The EU reached a deal Monday on a new tightening of migration rules allowing for so-called “return hubs” to be set up outside the bloc, as countries seek to boost deportations. Spain is the only EU country to vote against this measure.
European lawmakers and countries struck a provisional compromise on the reform, which was launched in response to political pressure to curb migration — paving the way for its final approval.
Spain was the only country to vote against the return regulations at the EU Council meeting in December 2025 and the Sánchez government is expected to maintain its opposition in the final vote by the European Parliament.
It’s yet another example of how Spain is an outlier in Europe currently when it comes to tougher migration policies, opting instead for more progressive measures such as the ongoing regularisation of 800,000+ undocumented migrants living in the country.
“Today’s agreement shows that we are bringing our European house in order,” said Magnus Brunner, the European Union’s commissioner for migration.
“With the new rules, we have more control over who can come to the EU, who can stay and who needs to leave.”
Spain’s Socialist government has previously said that it “does not foresee signing agreements with third countries for the transfer of migrants to return centres outside the EU under the terms set out in the proposed regulation.”
Criticised by rights groups, the new measures will notably allow nations to open centres outside the EU’s borders to which migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected could be sent.
They also establish a strict obligation for migrants subject to expulsion to leave and cooperate with authorities, envisaging harsher penalties, including detention, for those who refuse to do so.
“This deal will give governments much broader powers to detain and deport people,” said Marta Welander of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), an NGO.
“It looks set to normalise immigration raids, expand the use of detention in prison-like facilities outside EU territory that are essentially legal black holes and increase the risk of people being deported to countries where they could face persecution, torture or worse.”
European governments have sought a tougher stance amid hardening public opinion on migration, which has fuelled far-right electoral gains across the continent.
With migrant arrivals down, the focus in Brussels has turned to improving the repatriation system. Currently, less than 30 percent of people ordered to leave are actually returned to their country of origin, according to the European Commission.
‘Mass detention’
Lawmakers and capitals had long agreed on the substance of the reform, but talks in May to greenlight it were delayed because of differences over the timeline for implementation.
Under Monday’s accord, most new measures will apply immediately after the law enters into force, and some provisions 12 months later, to give member states time to prepare related regulatory changes.
Proponents say return hubs — which would serve either as the final destination or as transfer centres for those expelled — could facilitate repatriations and act as a deterrent for would-be irregular migrants.
Some nations, including Austria and Germany, are already exploring options to set them up.
But others in the bloc, including France and Spain, have questioned their effectiveness.
“It’s unclear how this will work, and it won’t affect many people,” said a European diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity.
Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has previously expressed “serious legal, political, and economic concerns” about the measure at the time, warning of a potential “negative impact” on relations with key partners.
Other critics point to the hurdles faced by similar projects.
Britain abandoned a scheme to deport undocumented migrants to Rwanda, while Italian-run facilities to process migrants in Albania have faced legal challenges and a slow uptake.
The reform has proved politically divisive.
Birgit Sippel, a European lawmaker with the centre-left S&D group, said it would usher in “mass detention, including for families and children” and raids reminiscent of the heavy-handed practices used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the United States under President Donald Trump.
But the far-right ECR group celebrated the agreement, saying: “The era of returns has begun.”
Irregular border crossings into the EU detected by authorities fell by 40 percent in the first four months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, according to the EU’s border control agency.
Data from 2025 shows that the deportation rate in the EU reached 27.5 percent, the highest in ten years. However, Spain ranked as the third worst performing country, executing only 10.6 percent of deportation orders, ahead of only the Netherlands and Portugal.
This latest reform reform needs to be formally approved by the European Parliament and the member states before it can come into force.
With additional reporting by The Local Spain’s editor Alex Dunham
