Melilla’s mayor Juan José Imbroda said on 22 September 2026 that he would use all legal and political means to oppose the possible establishment of a state centre to identify and temporarily accommodate people after irregularly crossing the border. According to him, plans are circulating for a site opposite Playa de La Hípica with space for up to 800 people. He warned that Melilla would be overstretched and referred to images of overcrowded stretches of beach in Ceuta such as Playa del Trampolín and the Playa de Benítez. He also criticised state migration policy as erratic and called for faster return procedures, more staff and technology for checks, and clear responsibilities for protecting unaccompanied minors.
The Spanish Government Delegation in Melilla rejected this. Government representative Sabrina Moh said on 21 September 2026 that the Ministry of the Interior had not announced a new Centro de Estancia Temporal de Inmigrantes and would not establish another such reception centre in Melilla. She confirmed that the administration was looking for a site to carry out identifications and ease the logistical burden on the police, and clarified that no Ministry of Defence land was earmarked for a new building. Moh accused Imbroda of politicising the dispute and pointed to pressing local issues such as water shortages and urban infrastructure.
What is clear, then, is that there is a political dispute over the scale and purpose of a state proposal: while Imbroda describes a large-scale centre with up to 800 places and gives a potential location, the Government Delegation envisages a clearly delineated identification site with no expansion of existing capacity. No formal planning document from the Ministry of the Interior substantiating the location, purpose and capacity is publicly available. Nor has any approval process been reported. Without these documents, it remains unclear whether concrete building plans exist beyond the assessment of options.
The existing Centro de Estancia Temporal de Inmigrantes (CETI) in Melilla remains adequate, according to the Government Delegation. Imbroda, by contrast, says the city is structurally overstretched and is demanding firm commitments on resources, procedures and coordination between the state, the autonomous cities and Morocco. How the debate develops will depend on possible decisions by the Ministry of the Interior and the formal launch of a planning or procurement process. For now, these are opposing political assessments of a possible identification site, not a confirmed decision to build.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).