Two months after accusing Madrid of creating a migration “pull factor”, the European Union has reversed course. A leaked draft of this week’s European Council conclusions, obtained by El País, “expresses solidarity and support to Spain” over the 30-31 July mass entry of more than 70,000 people into Ceuta from Morocco. The text emphasises that Ceuta and Melilla form part of the Union and welcomes EU financial and operational aid. The volte-face comes after weeks of bilateral lobbying by the Spanish Foreign Ministry and the suspension of mutual Schengen free movement between Spain and Italy. Analysts say the new language reduces pressure for other member states to impose internal border checks on Spanish travellers—a risk that had alarmed airlines and logistics firms moving staff via Milan and Munich hubs. Business-mobility teams are advised, however, that temporary Spanish border controls on flights and ferries from Italy, introduced on 6 October, remain in force. The Interior Ministry can extend them in 15-day increments under Articles 25-26 of the Schengen Code. Travellers should therefore allow extra time at passport control when returning from Italian business trips. The draft also refers obliquely to “hybrid pressure” by third countries—an implicit nod to allegations that Moroccan naval vessels entered Spanish waters during the influx, raising security concerns. Should the wording survive Thursday’s summit, Spain would secure rare EU recognition that its North-African enclaves constitute a shared external frontier. That could unlock FRONTEX resources and fast-track funding for a new smart-border barrier project around Ceuta’s El Tarajal crossing. For global-mobility programmes the immediate implication is reputational: Spain is unlikely to face further intra-Schengen suspensions, stabilising itineraries for assignees. Yet companies with operations in the enclaves must still contend with a fragile security environment and potential supply-chain delays if tensions with Rabat flare again.
Source: El País
