In the early hours of 26 September the Spanish Government confirmed to EL PAÍS that it is finalising a royal-decree law that would sharply shorten every procedural step needed to return irregular migrants from the North-African enclave of Ceuta to neighbouring Morocco. The decree will be taken to the Council of Ministers on Tuesday and is being steered by the Ministry of the Interior with support from Justice and Foreign Affairs. According to the draft seen by the newspaper, the text removes the advisory opinion of the Inter-ministerial Commission for Asylum and Refuge (CIAR), allows the police to resolve applications directly and reduces to five days the window for lodging appeals. Crucially, while the emergency “state of interest for national security” remains in force in Ceuta—declared on 25 August—nationals of “safe” countries such as Morocco, repeat applicants and people considered a threat to public order would lose the automatic suspensive effect of their asylum claims. Officials say more than 10,000 migrants are still in Ceuta following the mass entry of 30–31 July. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has repeatedly argued that barely 1 % of Moroccan asylum claims are eventually approved and that accelerated procedures are therefore proportionate. Human-rights NGOs, however, warn that fast-track models risk collective expulsions and violate the individualized guarantees enshrined in EU and international law. If approved, the decree would be the second extraordinary measure adopted since the crisis erupted. The first —the security-interest declaration— created a single command structure in Ceuta. The new text moves the Government from crisis management to the politically more sensitive phase of removals. Legal experts point out that using a royal-decree law to modify parts of the 2000 Aliens Act will require careful constitutional justification when the norm is later validated by Parliament. For multinational employers with staff in Ceuta or with cross-border commuters, the decree signals tighter timelines and heightened uncertainty for any third-country national who may need to regularise status. Companies should review contingency plans, monitor individual cases closely and be prepared for rapid administrative decisions once the measure enters into force.
Source: El PAÍS
