The Spanish Government is preparing changes to the processing of international protection applications in Ceuta that could allow authorities to return some migrants who have requested asylum if they are considered a danger to public order or national security.

The measure is contained in a draft Real Decreto-Ley on extraordinary measures to speed up the processing of international protection applications and appeals in Ceuta.

Importantly, the text was still a draft at the time of the reports examined for this article. It had not entered into force, and its wording remained subject to change.

What the draft proposes

According to the draft reviewed by Europa Press, migrants who have requested asylum in Ceuta could be returned if their presence is considered to represent a danger to public order or national security.

The draft specifically identifies people who have behaved in a "violent or threatening" manner in an accommodation centre or reception facility.

It also covers people who, outside those facilities, participate in disturbances, riots or other acts that could constitute administrative or criminal offences affecting public order or citizen security.

The wording is significant because it concerns people who have already submitted an application for international protection.

The proposal would therefore create a specific procedure for Ceuta in response to the exceptional migration situation there, rather than simply applying the normal asylum-processing timetable.

ACNUR would no longer have a prior review role

Another proposed change concerns the Commission Interministerial de Asilo y Refugio.

Under the draft, individual asylum applications in Ceuta would no longer receive the commission's prior examination before a decision.

The commission includes representatives from several Spanish ministries and the United Nations refugee agency, ACNUR.

The draft instead envisages decisions being handled through the Interior Ministry's international protection administration, with the interministerial commission receiving information after decisions have been made rather than conducting the same prior review.

This does not mean that ACNUR itself would be removed from all involvement in asylum matters in Spain. The proposed change concerns the prior examination procedure for these Ceuta applications.

The measure would apply retrospectively to certain applications

The draft states that the new arrangements would apply to applications submitted in Ceuta from July 30, 2026 that remain unresolved when the new rules enter into force.

That date is significant because it coincides with the beginning of the mass arrival of migrants into Ceuta at the end of July.

Reuters reported that the draft could affect thousands of people who remain in the city following the July arrivals, although the exact number affected by the proposed asylum provisions depends on how the final legislation is drafted and applied.

Seven-day deadline for some migrants who do not request asylum

A separate element of the proposed framework would accelerate returns for people who receive a return order but do not request international protection within a specified period.

Cadena SER reported from an earlier version of the draft that migrants would have seven days after notification of the return order to submit an asylum application in Ceuta.

Those who failed to do so could face immediate return under the proposed procedure.

The exact details could still change before any legislation is approved.

Why the Government is proposing the changes

The proposal comes after the exceptional migration situation in Ceuta following the large-scale arrivals from Morocco on July 30 and 31.

The Spanish Government has been working to increase reception capacity, process applications and organise returns while reducing the pressure on the city's existing facilities.

At a September 29 government meeting, authorities reported that additional accommodation was being prepared in Ceuta, including 1,200 places scheduled for that week. The Government also approved the incorporation of additional land near the Ceuta prison into the resources available for temporary accommodation.

The BOE subsequently published a September 29 Royal Decree expanding the resources that could be used during the declared national-security situation in Ceuta. That decree included land belonging to the Ceuta prison among the potential facilities. It was separate from the proposed asylum-processing Real Decreto-Ley.

The asylum decree was not yet in force

This distinction is particularly important.

The measure described in the supplied report was a proposal being prepared by the Government. It was not an already applicable rule allowing Spain to automatically deport asylum seekers considered violent.

The draft still required approval by the Council of Ministers and could be changed during that process.

The Government's September 29 official information confirms that it was working to accelerate administrative procedures in Ceuta, but it does not establish that the proposed asylum decree had already been approved.

As of October 1, the latest official BOE material I found concerns the expansion of resources and facilities for the Ceuta response, rather than publication of the proposed asylum Real Decreto-Ley.

Reactions and legal concerns

The proposed changes have prompted criticism from organisations working on refugee and migrant rights.

Reuters reported that legal experts and NGOs, including CEAR and Oxfam, raised concerns about the proposal and its potential compatibility with Spain's international obligations. Thirteen organisations described the proposed measures as a serious concern for Spain's commitments under international human-rights conventions.

These are criticisms of a draft proposal, rather than findings that the final measure violates international law.

The Government has presented the wider Ceuta measures as an attempt to manage an exceptional situation, accelerate administrative procedures and organise returns while maintaining the applicable legal framework.

A proposal responding to the Ceuta migration crisis

The proposed decree represents part of the Government's wider response to the migration crisis in Ceuta.

If approved in its current form, it would establish special procedures for international-protection applications made in the city, including provisions affecting applicants considered a danger to public order or national security and removing the previous examination of individual applications by the interministerial commission.

For now, however, those provisions should be described as proposed measures rather than rules already in force.

The final wording, approval process and any subsequent parliamentary developments will determine how the system ultimately operates.