Coalición por Melilla called on 29 August 2026 for a stable financial contribution for Ceuta and Melilla. The opposition party in the Asamblea de Melilla is calling on Spain and the European Union to establish a permanent mechanism to offset the particular costs borne by the two cities on the external border with Morocco , rather than responding only to exceptional situations with one-off aid.
The party bases its proposal on recurring pressures on local services, including accommodation, healthcare and social services, education, security and logistics. The border location and periods of heightened pressure also affect transport and the economy. CpM says that one-off assistance does not give local administrations the ability to plan with certainty.
The proposal comes amid increased migration movements at the land borders of the two cities in summer 2026. In this context, the Spanish government has requested additional support from the European Union, including operational assistance from the agency Frontex with registration and procedures at the border. According to sources in Madrid and Brussels, measures are being considered, but no firm commitments to permanent compensation had been made by the time of publication.
Ceuta and Melilla have a special status within Spain’s administrative system. As autonomous cities and, at the same time, external borders of the European Union, they carry out tasks that do not arise to the same extent in mainland provinces. These include securing the border fence, the initial reception and distribution of arrivals, and specific transport and supply costs. Time-limited programmes and allocations exist for some needs, such as emergency funds, but local authorities say these do not cover the structural additional costs.
CpM argues that a reliable compensation mechanism would make budgets more predictable and reduce dependence on ad hoc decisions. Opponents of such a model warn of the political difficulty of establishing permanent EU co-financing for individual border regions, and point to responsibilities that primarily lie with the Spanish state. How any possible sharing of the burden between Madrid and the European Commission might work in detail remains unclear.
The demand is explicitly directed at both levels: Spain should recognise and provide predictable compensation for the structural additional costs; the European Union should, in CpM’s view, establish a framework to provide longer-term support for external border regions with similar ongoing responsibilities. The central government and the European Commission have yet to respond to this specific proposal.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).