How do Ceuta and Melilla work?

BarcelonaMelilla has been a Spanish city since 1497 and Ceuta definitively since 1580, fully integrated into the Crown of Castile in 1640. Despite more than five centuries of history and peninsular ties, its current administrative status is a territorial anomaly in the State. And its political focus is basically confined to migratory crises like the one that began on July 30. The 1978 Constitution explicitly provided, in the fifth transitional provision, for the possibility of their being constituted as autonomous communities. Nevertheless, it was not until 1995 that the Cortes Generales approved their Statutes of Autonomy, opting for an unprecedented figure: the "autonomous city." Before that, they functioned as special regime municipalities integrated into the provinces of Cadiz – in the case of Ceuta – and Malaga – in the case of Melilla –, and enjoyed the status of free ports with certain unique fiscal advantages compared to the rest of the territories.

Why was this hybrid formula chosen instead of full autonomy? The experts consulted by ARA agree that the main reason was demographic and territorial. "There is no community, it is simply a city. There is really no territory around beyond the city," details Diego Boza, professor at the University of Cadiz. Joan Lluís Pérez Francesch, a constitutionalist at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), agrees: "A city cannot be a community, because at most it can be a province, but a city would be forcing the machine too much."

It is often argued that the State slowed down the process of converting them into autonomous communities to avoid straining relations with Morocco, which claims sovereignty over them. Pérez Francesch, however, qualifies this: "I think Morocco does not accept that they are Spanish, they don't care if they are cities or communities [...] they start from an a priori assumption, which is that those are colonies." This decision was much more about the need to reorganize Spanish territorial organization, solving the integration of two cities where the complex political, customs, and multicultural reality made it impossible to dissolve them as simple Andalusian municipalities. “It was not very clear how to integrate them into the whole,” states Pérez Francesch.

Governing without laws

This design gave rise to what jurists call a tertium genus, an entity that is not exactly a town hall or a community. The status of autonomous city grants them a much greater volume of competences than an ordinary municipality, but it maintains a core difference: they have no legislative capacity. Their assemblies cannot approve their own laws, only issue regulations of a regulatory nature such as municipal ordinances. Legislation must be approved by the Cortes Generales specifically for them, which highlights the uniqueness of the model.

This lack of autonomous fullness leaves evident structural anomalies in areas such as education and health. As Boza points out, this generates a "very curious situation", as "there are many things that have to be done from Madrid" in these matters. Thus, while the rest of the autonomous communities already have these competences transferred, "Madrid legislates only for them". One of the biggest exceptions is healthcare, as Ceuta and Melilla are the only corner of Spain where it has not been decentralized: the ministry directly manages the hospitals and primary care through the National Institute of Health Management (Ingesa). Nevertheless, they have recently been receiving competences in public health to improve practical resolution on the territory. For example, vaccination depends on the autonomous cities.

In the judicial field, the situation is also singular, as they also do not have their own High Court of Justice (TSJ). The judicial leadership of the cities depends on the TSJ of Andalusia, which is based in Granada. This peninsular administrative dependency leaves several anecdotes, especially with the province of Cadiz. Boza recalls that Ceuta "has always had a great connection with Cadiz", a close relationship that has led them to share the bishopric for many years, old landline telephone codes, or higher judicial instances such as the Provincial Court.

A mayor-president

In elections, practice also reflects this exception. Citizens do not elect an ordinary council or a Parliament, but an Assembly of 25 members. Elections are held every four years, coinciding with the state general municipal elections. Since they cannot enact laws, local rules apply to appoint the leader: the one who achieves an absolute majority governs, or failing that, the list with the most votes. This leader has great power by concentrating a dual role: mayor and president of the autonomous city simultaneously.