Spain is one of the gateways into Europe for African migrants seeking a better life. But what happens when they arrive on Spanish shores? Are they given accommodation? Can they be repatriated or are they granted asylum?
What’s the latest?
According to Spanish authorities, around 49,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into Spain’s north African Ceuta enclave over a 24-hour period between July 30th and 31st 2026.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday arrived in Ceuta to manage one the largest migrant crisis on the country’s border.
There have been several mass crossings at the Melilla and Ceuta borders previously, but unions and associations consider the situation more serious than that of May 2021 for example, when thousands of immigrants also entered.
READ ALSO: Why are Ceuta and Melilla Spanish?
The sudden massive influx has sparked an international crisis for Spain’s government, drawing criticism from Italy and Finland and prompting France to tighten checks on its border with Spain.
Madrid has sent troops and more police, including divers, drones and boats, to boost security in Ceuta. Sanchez and his interior minister arrived on Friday to visit the enclave’s Tarajal border.
Can Spain return migrants when they’ve just arrived?
Spain’s borders are by and large maritime, with Spain’s African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla being exceptions.
That means that in many cases Spanish authorities can’t immediately return new arrivals to the country they’ve just crossed over from, what’s been dubbed in Spanish devoluciones en caliente (‘fresh’ returns).
So if for example a group of migrants arrives by sea to the Canary Islands in a clandestine boat, both Spain’s Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights state that border officers cannot return them to their port of departure there and then without carrying out any paperwork.
In Spain’s North African enclaves however, Spanish authorities can take the migrants back to Morocco without having to do it through the usual legal channels.
It’s worth noting that Ceuta has been in an extraordinary migration contingency state since August 29th 2025. Under this status, the central government has 15 calendar days to transfer newly arrived unaccompanied minors to mainland Spain once legal capacity thresholds in Ceuta are crossed.
Government sources believe up to 8,000 of the 49,000 people who crossed into the Spanish enclave are underage.
What happens with the migrants when they first arrive?
When immigrants arrive in Spain en situación irregular (in an irregular situation, as Spanish legalese refers to migrants without the right visas or permits), the law establishes that there is a maximum period of 72 hours to carry out the police review of the migrant’s case.
They’re initially taken to a Temporary Reception Centre for immigrants (CATE), where border officers create a record of the migrant’s details and check if their fingerprints are in any national or international database.
It’s here also where the Red Cross provides first aid and other health assistance to the people who have endured the often perilous crossing.
These centres for temporary migrant accommodation often suffer from overcrowding when there is a large wave of arrivals, leading to other emergency housing options being quickly set up in many cases.
Depending on the resources available and the number of migrants, these have gone from hotels where tourists usually stay to huge makeshift camps in the forest.
The 72-hour limit mentioned earlier is important because that is the limit for them to be held under police custody and can leave unless they’ve committed a documented felony.
“Sometimes it’s not even necessary for 72 hours to have elapsed for these people, who have not committed any crime, but an administrative offense, to be released,” Gran Canaria magistrate Arcadio Díaz Tejera told Spanish online daily El Diario.
Any irregular arrival in Spain involves the opening of a case for repatriation from the country that can conclude with the repatriation of that person. The migrants can claim international protection and request asylum at any time .
Only in cases in which these people can be properly identified is it possible to initiate an expulsion proceeding that is neither immediate nor guaranteed.
The European Union has bilateral agreements that facilitate this with Turkey, Russia (previously) and Pakistan but not with any of the African nations most of these migrants are from.
So Spain cannot forcibly return immigrants by air without the authorisation of the country in question.
Regarding Ceuta and Melilla, Spanish government sources has previously told online news site Voz Populi that “Spain has to negotiate returns with Moroccan authorities based on a fixed percentage that can’t be surpassed”.
Where do they stay and what happens next?
There have been reports of many migrants not being informed that they are no longer under police custody after the initial three-day period, meaning many of them are unaware that they can leave the reception centre.
However, migrants are usually in a state of limbo and have nowhere to go or anything to do while their case is being studied.
While they are waiting to have their file or asylum processed, the migrants usually stay at a Foreigner Internment Centre (CIE) , where the maximum period of stay is 60 days, although NGOs report that many times the length of stay is longer than the legal one.
They are however under no obligation to stay there, and can sign a document saying they are turning down the state accommodation being offered to them.
In the Canary Islands there have been formal complaints launched against the lack of legal assistance provided to these people, who many times are unaware of their rights and do not even know that they can request asylum.
If a migrant’s asylum request is being processed, they cannot be repatriated and have the right to stay at international protection reception centres managed by Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion and Migration.
If a migrant is granted international protection they can stay legally in Spain.
In the event that their asylum and international protection request is denied, the case for repatriation is proposed to a judge who has to rule whether to allow it or not.
If there is no real prospect of being returned, migrants are not expected to stay at a Foreigner Internment Centre.
