Alberto Núñez Feijoo wants Ceuta and Melilla to become a standing item on a future Spanish Cabinet’s agenda if the PP forms a government in 2027. The opposition leader presented his integrated plan during a visit to Melilla with regional president Juan José Imbroda. Its central argument is that the two autonomous cities are Spanish territory and part of Europe’s southern border.
The proposal remains a political commitment, not enacted policy. Feijoo intends to use it as his “letter of introduction” for the next general election and to challenge what he called Pedro Sánchez’s “incompetence” in migration management.
Brussels has given the PP leader the framing he wanted. Feijoo said the European Union’s support for treating Ceuta and Melilla as a border issue affecting the bloc strengthens Spain’s position. He put it bluntly: “By Europeanising this situation, we are more numerous and stronger.” The European Parliament’s resolution of 17 September 2026 called for stronger protection of the EU’s external borders and explicitly included the two cities in that discussion. The resolution on Ceuta was adopted by 339 votes to 225, with 16 abstentions. It expressed full support for residents of Ceuta and Melilla, and called for stronger protection of the EU’s external borders.
The plan has five priorities. First comes sovereignty, which Feijoo said cannot be “sublet” to the neighbouring country. A second priority would require foreign-policy decisions handled by the Government to pass through Congress. Another focuses on border security, which both countries sharing the frontier would have to recognise and respect.
The fourth priority is to reinforce the European dimension of the two cities, after the European Parliament backed recognising them as the EU’s southern border. The fifth links the crisis to the wider structure of the Spanish state and the work of Spain’s security forces. Reuters reported that more than 72,000 people crossed into Ceuta from Morocco at the end of July 2026, although most later left the enclave. Spanish estimates put the number remaining in the region at about 12,000, including minors. Ceuta’s local authorities cited a figure closer to 13,000.
The European Parliament’s official description also sets out the territories’ special legal position: Ceuta and Melilla have a unique regime under the Schengen rules, and illegal entries into them do not constitute entry into the rest of the Schengen area. That distinction gives Feijoo’s call for a stronger European role a specific regulatory and border-management context, beyond national sovereignty alone.
Feijoo also set out measures with a direct economic and operational focus. He proposed lower Social Security contributions and a reduction in Corporation Tax, alongside stronger investment in public services. He also called for improved air links with Melilla. He gave no figures for the proposed reductions or investment. EFE reported that he also promised to defend the “Spanishness” of Ceuta and Melilla, and announced separate security and economic plans for the two autonomous cities.
The announcement fits the PP’s wider effort to make border management a central test for the national government. The party leader’s positioning comes alongside recent Madrid scrutiny of senior political figures, placing Ceuta and Melilla at the centre of his national opposition strategy. The PP has also promoted the issue in Brussels, presenting the crisis as a matter of protecting the EU’s external border.
For the cities, the practical promise is greater political attention if the PP takes office. Feijoo says his future Cabinet would discuss their affairs weekly, rather than treating them as a peripheral regional issue. That agenda would bring sovereignty and migration under one government structure, with security and European policy also on the table. Public services and transport would be included as well.
The scale and aftermath of the migration crisis remain contested. Spain’s migration minister Ángel Víctor Torres said that 5,321 people had voluntarily returned from Ceuta to Morocco since 10 August 2026, while another 90 had withdrawn applications for international protection. The differing estimates from Madrid and local authorities show why the PP’s proposed structure would need clear definitions and resources. It would also require coordination between Spain, the EU and Morocco.
Feijoo’s plan matters less as a completed measure than as an electoral blueprint. Its strongest feature is the attempt to pair Spanish authority with European responsibility, while attaching concrete proposals on taxation and public services. Improved connectivity is also part of the offer. Until the PP presents the full programme, but, the five-point structure remains a promise whose value will depend on the detail and resources eventually placed behind it.
