Spain's Ministry of the Interior has stepped up border controls in Ceuta, ordering police and Guardia Civil to immediately return migrants who try to swim past the newly installed floating barrier at El Tarajal. The directive, signed by Secretary of State for Security Aina Calvo, extends the legal structure for these so-called 'hot returns' to Melilla, where officials now plan a similar maritime barrier, information from documentation reviewed by EL PAÍS.
The order was issued as workers anchored the 500-meter-long floating barrier off Ceuta. It aims to give security forces legal certainty when intercepting migrants at the maritime border. Anchored buoys support the barrier, which rises 30 to 70 centimeters above the water and extends a meter below the surface. A channel allows Guardia Civil patrol boats to operate and protect the structure.
Calvo's instruction clarifies that any migrant detected crossing the new maritime barriers in Ceuta or Melilla will be subject to immediate return to Moroccan territory under Spain's immigration law. The legal basis is the tenth additional provision of Spain's Organic Law on Foreigners, which allows rejection at the border in Ceuta and Melilla of people attempting to overcome border-containment elements. The Supreme Court has held that maritime surveillance alone does not meet that threshold. Its reasoning could differ if a genuine physical barrier is in place.
The court's ruling left other procedural and human-rights obligations intact. In ordinary return proceedings, authorities must identify people and provide legal assistance, with interpretation and an chance to seek asylum. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights has described non-refoulement, the prohibition on returning someone to a place where they face persecution or serious harm, as a cornerstone of refugee protection. A physical barrier alone does not remove those obligations or determine whether each individual return is legal.
The Ministry's decision follows the mass arrival in Ceuta around July 30 to 31, when people entered by land and sea over roughly 24 to 48 hours. Authorities offered different totals: Spain's Interior Ministry initially cited about 50,000 arrivals, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez later told Congress that 70,000 had entered, while Ceuta's government put the figure at 80,000. On August 4, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that 70,000 of 72,000 arrivals had already returned to Morocco. The figures reflect differing estimates and measures of the episode's scale.
The response went beyond immediate sea interceptions. The Spanish government said more than 12,700 people returned to Morocco between August 10 and October 20, and that basic-government facilities housed most of the adults who remained in Ceuta. By October, Ceuta's government was seeking additional personnel and material resources to process return and expulsion cases, as well as applications for international protection. It filed a challenge before the Supreme Court over what it called basic-government inaction. The developments showed that people remaining in the territory still needed administrative processing and access to applicable procedures.
Separate from the exceptional Ceuta surge, Frontex data cited in Spanish reporting showed that detected arrivals on the broader North African route to Spain rose 26% from January to September, reaching 18,260 when the Ceuta episode was excluded. The figures point to continued pressure on the route beyond the extraordinary late-July movement.
The Justice Police union, Jupol, has criticized the ministry's approach, arguing that it fails to address the underlying challenges at Spain's North African borders. Jupol says no additional personnel or resources have been allocated and police facilities in Ceuta and Melilla remain overwhelmed. The union calls the floating barriers 'cosmetic' and urges a comprehensive reform of Spain's immigration law. Ceuta's later legal action over staffing and resources has added to the dispute over whether the state can process people who remain after an arrival.
Installation of the barrier in Melilla has not yet begun. The Ministry maintains that the sea is a natural border and says that, following the Supreme Court's interpretation, physical obstacles are necessary for immediate returns under the current border-rejection structure. The distinction between rejection at a border and an ordinary deportation procedure is basic: the former can involve an immediate handover, while people who have reached or remain in Spanish territory are covered by applicable procedural safeguards.
Spain's approach to border management in Ceuta and Melilla has repeatedly drawn scrutiny, particularly during mass arrivals. The EU rights agency warned that the July influx tested the balance between protecting fundamental rights and safeguarding the EU's external borders. Floating barriers and immediate returns remain part of a broader debate over the state's obligations, including border security and access to asylum. In earlier incidents, such as the rapid conversion of industrial buildings to house migrant minors in Ceuta, authorities adapted their response to shifting migration patterns. For more on the local impact of these arrivals, see how Ceuta authorities have managed emergency accommodation for migrant minors.
Ceuta and Melilla are Spain's only land borders with Africa, making them frequent entry points for migrants seeking to reach Europe. The legal and operational challenges at these borders have prompted repeated changes in policy and infrastructure. The current focus on maritime barriers reflects changing crossing tactics and the government's effort to follow the Supreme Court's interpretation while maintaining border security. Any use of the new structure remains subject to asylum protections and the principle of non-refoulement.
