The Spanish government toughens the asylum and foreign law pushed by the EU

MadridThe Spanish government approved two key draft bills on migration matters this Tuesday: on the one hand, a new law on the right to asylum and, on the other, a reform of the law on the rights and freedoms of foreigners. This was announced by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who appeared after the first council of ministers after the summer holidays, which focused on the Ceuta crisis. Marlaska explained the impetus for these two reforms to adapt Spanish legislation to the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum, which tightens the migratory policies of the European borders.

On this issue, Marlaska assured that states have room to maintain "guarantor" legislation. According to him, the new legislation on the right to asylum is made from the "human rights perspective" and, at the same time, maintains the objective of defending the security of the State. In his opinion, these are procedural changes so that states can act more quickly, although the European legislative package primarily guarantees that people cannot move around the territory until their case has been resolved, an aspect that has received criticism from various NGOs.

In the Spanish case, for example, they incorporate a regulation of mandatory application in which the asylum seeker, in specific cases, must be available to the authorities, in police facilities, for a maximum period of twelve weeks until their file is resolved to facilitate expulsion in case it is resolved unfavorably. When analyzing applications, the new text also regulates three key concepts for deciding on admission: the first country of asylum (the first place where it is requested), the safe third country (a country that is not the country of origin, but is safe for deporting the immigrant) and the safe country of origin (the immigrant must justify that their country of origin is not safe for them), although the Spanish government has not specified how they will use the new tools. According to the Interior Ministry, asylum applications have gone from 3,000 in 2009 to 144,000 in 2025.

The triage

On the other hand, regarding the legal change on the rights and freedoms of foreigners, the Ministry of the Interior highlights that the main novelty is the incorporation of the triage of foreign persons who cross the external borders of the European Union without meeting the entry conditions. In this regard, it establishes the obligation not to authorize entry into Spanish territory until the triage process is completed, which consists of a medical examination, a vulnerability assessment, biometric data identification, a security inspection, and referral to an appropriate process. Spanish law states that all this must be done within 72 hours, although European legislation allows up to seven days. In parallel, it also establishes that persons without the right to stay must be returned to their countries of origin within a maximum of twelve weeks. According to Marlaska, the Spanish government wants to minimize the time asylum seekers can spend in police facilities, and this is an example of the legislative margin the State has when applying the toughening of European immigration policies.

Spain was the only member state that opposed the returns regulation and the harshest parts of the European Union's Migration and Asylum Pact, despite it being mandatory for all member states, and which consists of accelerating the return of irregular immigrants and creating return centers outside the EU. For this reason, it must now adapt its legislation to avoid contradictions when it comes into force.

Despite this, while rejecting the expulsion of immigrants to third countries, the Spanish government has pursued a policy of agreement with North African states, such as Morocco and Mauritania, to curb irregular immigration, which some consider has empowered these countries to pursue a blackmail policy, which can be linked to the current crisis in Ceuta and Spain's shift on the Western Sahara issue.

The Moncloa disassociates it from Ceuta

Although this reform is subsequent to the Ceuta crisis, sources from Moncloa dissociate its approval from the situation in the autonomous city, as they argue that it was approved at the meeting of undersecretaries of state, the step prior to the Council of Ministers, before the massive entry of immigrants on July 30. "We had to adapt the legislation to European regulations," they recall. However, the fact is that they have decided to bring it to the Council of Ministers now, in the midst of the debate on migration policies.

With the preliminary drafts having passed the first round of the Council of Ministers, the texts will now be brought to the attention of the other ministries with competencies in immigration for their contributions, and the reports from the Council of State and the General Council of the Judiciary are also expected. Afterwards, the Ministry of the Interior will bring the new text to the Council of Ministers and it will go to Congress, where the executive does not have guaranteed support from the plurinational majority. In fact, Sumar and the left-wing parties have repeatedly opposed the EU's change in vision on immigration amidst the rise of the far-right.