Pedro Sánchez is likely facing one of the European Union's most delicate and potentially complicated debates: migration and border control. In recent crises or key moments that have shaped European policy – European funds, the energy crisis, the Mercosur agreement, or the "no to war" stance in the face of the conflict in the Middle East – the head of the Spanish executive has boasted of having won over followers to his position – sometimes with more difficulty than others – and of emerging victorious. But the migration crisis in Ceuta, despite growing calls to refer to it as a political and humanitarian crisis, has triggered a standoff with some member states that may prove resistant.

When we think of borders, we tend to think of increasingly fortified physical spaces with fences, razor wire, and the presence of police and military forces on both sides. While internal borders within the Schengen Area have been disappearing, external borders have become increasingly impenetrable and harmful. Between 2014 and 2022, the total length of fences on the EU's external borders increased from 315 km to 2,048 km. To give you an idea, the infamous "Trump wall" is 900 km long.