The head of the delegation of Vox in the European Parliament, Jorge Buxadé, called on the Spanish Fiscalía on Friday to “apply the law” and immediately open proceedings to deport people who arrived in Ceuta irregularly at the end of July. His initiative aims to speed up the processing of cases and increases political pressure on the judiciary and government.
In practice, deportations in Spain are primarily handled through administrative proceedings by the central government; judicial deportations mainly apply to convicted offenders. EU and Spanish safeguards also apply, for example for minors and people seeking protection, requiring individual assessments. Buxadé’s appeal to the Fiscalía is therefore directed at an institution that does not have sole responsibility for migration matters, but plays a key role in criminal cases and proceedings involving minors.
The Ministry of the Interior has announced additional measures following the large influx at the end of July. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska reportedly ordered on 12 August that judicial deportation orders be sought in cases involving criminal offences. However, legal experts stress that administrative, criminal and human rights assessments must proceed in parallel and on a case-by-case basis. This applies in particular to age determination, access to asylum procedures and the protection of unaccompanied minors.
Politically, Vox is pushing the central government and the judiciary to take a tougher line. The PP is also calling for swift returns, more staff and tighter border security. Other actors warn against broadly equating irregular entry with criminality and point to constitutional and European legal requirements intended to prevent hasty measures. In Ceuta, the operational challenge is to establish the identity, protection needs and legal status of many individuals in an orderly way.
Internationally, cooperation with neighbouring countries remains crucial: in many cases, returns require reliable identification, a willingness to readmit people and coordinated procedures. Without suitable agreements and the necessary administrative capacity, proceedings can be neither expedited nor implemented with legal certainty. The speed at which decisions can be made on a larger scale therefore depends less on political demands than on the legal requirements and cooperation of the competent authorities—including the Fiscalía, immigration authorities and the judiciary.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).