JUPOL has joined the claims of the president of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, of the Popular Party, and has demanded an immediate response from the Government to the migratory crisis that the autonomous city is experiencing. The union calls for reforming the Immigration Law, reinforcing police staffing, and improving readmission mechanisms with Morocco to facilitate the return of those who enter Spain irregularly.
The request comes after a week in which about 1,500 people have accessed Ceuta, according to data provided by the Government of the autonomous city. The figure is equivalent to nearly 2% of its entire population and represents an approximate rate of 300 daily arrivals.
This Thursday morning has left more than a hundred minors and hundreds of adults who arrived by swimming from Morocco. Maritime Rescue and the Red Cross rescued 99 people during the night. In addition, the Civil Guard located the body of a young man who had allegedly tried to reach the city by sea.
With this last finding there are already 30 bodies recovered on the Ceuta coasts since the beginning of the year. The succession of deaths shows the risk of a route that forces many young people to throw themselves into the sea, but also the difficulty of a city of just over 80,000 inhabitants to identify, care for, and accommodate hundreds of people in a few days.
The Government rejects the national emergency requested by Vivas
The president of Ceuta has requested the central Executive to declare a national interest emergency and establish a single command to coordinate the response. Vivas argues that the magnitude of the arrivals has exceeded the ordinary capacity of the city and demands "forceful" actions to alleviate the saturation of the centers designated for adults and minors.
But the Government has rejected that request. The Ministry of the Interior argues that the state civil protection legislation does not include migratory flows among the risks that allow declaring a national interest emergency and does not contemplate special plans for this type of crisis. Not in vain, the Minister of the Interior will visit the autonomous city of Ceuta this Friday.
The rejection refers to the legal fit of the declaration and the single command requested by Ceuta. However, it does not resolve the operational problem nor does it prevent the Executive from seeking other extraordinary mechanisms for coordination, funding, and reinforcement in the face of a situation that the Ceuta authorities consider overwhelmed.
The Temporary Stay Center for Immigrants has exceeded its ordinary capacity. At the same time, Ceuta is already hosting about 700 minors, compared to the 420 counted two days earlier. The care for these minors corresponds to the autonomous city, which has been forced to enable additional resources and is requesting financial and logistical support from the State.
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, is scheduled to travel to Ceuta to analyze the situation and study new measures. The visit comes after several days of continuous arrivals and repeated requests for help from the Vivas Executive.
JUPOL warns of a Police "at the limit"
JUPOL denounces that the national police officers assigned to Ceuta are bearing an operational load that is hardly sustainable. In addition to the usual functions of citizen security and border control, identifications, records, custody, administrative files, and assistance tasks have been added.
"The city does not have the means to accommodate all these people. We are experiencing an absolute collapse that affects both migration management and citizen security," says the JUPOL spokesperson, Ibón Domínguez.
The union demands the urgent sending of agents, the increase of material and logistical resources, the expansion of the capacity of police facilities, and the implementation of an emergency plan.
The organization believes that the Interior did not foresee the necessary resources to face an arrival of this magnitude. The saturation, it adds, impacts the working conditions of the police, but also reduces the available personnel to meet the ordinary security needs of citizens.
Reform of the Immigration Law
The main legislative proposal of JUPOL coincides with the position defended by Vivas and the Popular Party. The union demands to modify the Organic Law of Immigration so that the rejection at the border can also be applied to those who attempt to enter irregularly by sea.
The request responds to the recent doctrine of the Supreme Court. The high court has established that the tenth additional provision of the Immigration Law, which regulates the special regime of Ceuta and Melilla, does not allow the automatic application of border rejection to persons intercepted at sea when trying to reach both cities by swimming.
In those cases, the return procedure provided in the article 58.3 of the law must be used, which requires the identification and individual examination of the circumstances of each person.
JUPOL believes that the current wording has created a legal gap exploited by irregular immigration networks to shift entries from land routes to the sea. Therefore, it calls for immediate return to be applicable regardless of whether access occurs by land, by sea, or through any other irregular procedure.
Any eventual reform would have to preserve constitutional and European guarantees, including the prohibition of collective expulsions, the right to request international protection, and the individual attention of minors and vulnerable persons. The legislative challenge is to expedite procedures without eliminating those guarantees.
Spain already has a readmission agreement with Morocco
JUPOL also demands the signing of a readmission agreement with Morocco. However, Spain and the Alaouite kingdom already have a bilateral agreement in this matter.
The agreement on the circulation, transit, and readmission of foreigners who entered irregularly was signed in Madrid on February 13, 1992, and came into force in October 2012. The text continues to be part of the Foreigners' regulations collected by the Ministry of the Interior.
The pending issue is, therefore, not the absence of an agreement, but its limited practical application, the possible updating of its procedures, and the degree of effective collaboration from the Moroccan authorities.
Readmissions are not automatic. Spain must prove that the person arrived from Moroccan territory and comply with the conditions and deadlines set out in the agreement, in addition to respecting legislation on asylum, minors, and the protection of vulnerable persons.
JUPOL's claim should therefore be interpreted as a request to review, expand, or apply the current agreement more effectively, as well as to negotiate other agreements with countries of origin and transit.
"Without agile returns or readmission agreements, Spain will continue to suffer this pull effect and national police will continue to face alone a migratory pressure that keeps growing," says Domínguez.
Morocco and the control of departures
The union that has been contacted DEMÓCRATA also holds Morocco responsible for not having effectively prevented the departure of hundreds of people who have launched themselves into the sea to reach Ceuta. JUPOL asks the Government to increase diplomatic pressure and demand that Rabat comply with its commitments to border surveillance and migration cooperation.
Moroccan forces have carried out interceptions during these days. However, the volume of entries raises doubts about the capacity or willingness to maintain constant control along the coastline near Ceuta.
Spain largely depends on Morocco's cooperation to control this border. The most evident precedent occurred in May 2021, when around 8,000 people entered Ceuta in just two days during a diplomatic crisis between Madrid and Rabat.
The decrease in irregular immigration to the Canary Islands does not eliminate the problem. Pressure may shift between routes depending on surveillance, weather conditions, the actions of networks, and the possibilities of continuing later to the Peninsula.
In the case of Ceuta, any sudden increase has a particularly intense impact due to the scarcity of territory and the limited capacity of its facilities. Reception affects adult and minor centers, but also social services, healthcare, police dependencies, and citizen security.
A human, police, and diplomatic crisis
The situation brings together three problems that cannot be addressed separately. The first is humanitarian, as demonstrated by the death of the young person found this Thursday and the 30 bodies recovered during 2026. The second is operational, due to the saturation of reception services and the Security Forces and Corps. The third is diplomatic, due to the dependence on Moroccan cooperation.
Vivas and JUPOL demand exceptional action, legislative changes, and greater firmness against Morocco. The central Government has ruled out formally declaring a national emergency and establishing the unified command requested, although Marlaska's visit opens the door to new measures.