Speaking on prime-time French television on 22 April, **Bruno Retailleau**, freshly chosen as the centre-right Les Républicains candidate for the 2027 election, vowed to “reinstate permanent controls at the Pyrenean border” if Spain proceeds with its large-scale regularisation of undocumented migrants. Retailleau claims Spain’s decision could create a security loophole, allowing newly regularised migrants to travel north under the Schengen 90/180-day rule. The proposal sparked immediate backlash in Paris and Madrid: members of President Macron’s Renaissance party called it “irresponsible”, while Spanish officials pointed out that regularised migrants would hold residence permits limited to Spain. EU sources reminded both sides that unilateral re-introduction of internal controls is strictly time-bound and subject to Commission scrutiny. The episode underscores how national immigration moves can reverberate across intra-EU mobility and political debate.
Source: Le Monde
