- Region
- Águilas
- Alhama de Murcia
- Jumilla
- Lorca
- Los Alcázares
- Mazarrón
- San Javier
-
ALL AREAS & TOWNS
- AREAS
- SOUTH WEST
- MAR MENOR
- MURCIA CITY & CENTRAL
- NORTH & NORTH WEST
- TOWNS
- Abanilla
- Abarán
- Aguilas
- Alamillo
- Alcantarilla
- Aledo
- Alhama de Murcia
- Archena
- Balsicas
- Blanca
- Bolnuevo
- Bullas
- Cañadas del Romero
- Cabo de Palos
- Calasparra
- Camping Bolnuevo
- Campo De Ricote
- Camposol
- Canada De La Lena
- Caravaca de la Cruz
- Cartagena
- Cehegin
- Ceuti
- Cieza
- Condado de Alhama
- Corvera
- Costa Cálida
- Cuevas De Almanzora
- Cuevas de Reyllo
- El Carmoli
- El Mojon
- El Molino (Puerto Lumbreras)
- El Pareton / Cantareros
- El Raso
- El Valle Golf Resort
- Fortuna
- Fuente Alamo
- Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
- Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
- Isla Plana
- Islas Menores & Mar de Cristal
- Jumilla
- La Azohia
- La Charca
- La Manga Club
- La Manga del Mar Menor
- La Pinilla
- La Puebla
- La Torre
- La Torre Golf Resort
- La Unión
- Las Palas
- Las Ramblas
- Las Ramblas Golf
- Las Torres de Cotillas
- Leiva
- Librilla
- Lo Pagan
- Lo Santiago
- Lorca
- Lorquí
- Los Alcázares
- Los Balcones
- Los Belones
- Los Canovas
- Los Nietos
- Los Perez (Tallante)
- Los Urrutias
- Los Ventorrillos
- Mar De Cristal
- Mar Menor
- Mar Menor Golf Resort
- Mazarrón
- Mazarrón Country Club
- Molina de Segura
- Moratalla
- Mula
- Murcia City
- Murcia Property
- Pareton
- Peraleja Golf Resort
- Perin
- Pilar de la Horadada
- Pinar de Campoverde
- Pinoso
- Playa Honda
- Playa Honda / Playa Paraíso
- Pliego
- Portmán
- Pozo Estrecho
- Puerto de Mazarrón
- Puerto Lumbreras
- Puntas De Calnegre
- Region of Murcia
- Ricote
- Roda Golf Resort
- Roldan
- Roldan and Lo Ferro
- San Javier
- San Pedro del Pinatar
- Santiago de la Ribera
- Sierra Espuña
- Sucina
- Tallante
- Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
- Torre Pacheco
- Totana
- What's On Weekly Bulletin
- Yecla
- EDITIONS: Spanish News Today Alicante Today Andalucia Today
ARCHIVED - Spain hopes to re-introduce fast-track deportation of illegal immigrants in the near future
Moroccan borders should re-open around the 10th January
This week there has been escalating controversy regarding the re-location of irregular African migrants from the Canary Islands to mainland Spain, after nearly twenty thousand made the sea crossing to the islands from north-western Africa in small boats throughout the year, nearly 900% more than last year.
During the Bank Holiday weekend several planes took hundreds of the migrants to various cities on the Spanish mainland including Granada, Alicante and Valencia, seemingly without advising the relevant regional authorities of their arrival. The Cruz Roja, which provides humanitarian aid for migrants, also says that it was given no notice of the transfers and was not asked to provide help or facilities for those being brought onto the mainland, the majority of whom were simply deposited in arrivals halls and left to go wherever they wished.
A frequently asked question is why these illegal migrants can´t simply be sent back to where they came from if Spain isn´t willing to take them in, legalise them and find them work, but this is in itself a complicated topic which touches on EU humanitarian laws and the difficulties in proving where the migrants actually came from; although for example, the departure point may have been in Morocco, the origin of the migrants could be any one of the sub-saharan areas and without being able to prove where an individual with no paperwork or ID actually came from is a difficult task. It’s certainly not possible to deposit them back in Morocco, which in turn has its own problems with sub-saharan migrants breaching its own borders, without setting off a diplomatic row, something Spain is keen to avoid.
However, it is possible to prove the origin of around half of the Moroccan and Algerian migrants who reach Spain and the Ministry of the Interior has announced that the procedure of fast-track deportation – i.e. simply handing back migrants to the country from which they are entering Spanish territory at the border - will resume in the near future.
This procedure, which in the past has been used in the north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, has had to be suspended during the coronavirus pandemic as the international frontiers with both Morocco and Algeria have been closed, but the Ministry states that after weeks of discussions with the African countries involved, a re-start of the immediate repatriation policy is imminent.
The optimism that the pandemic may soon be brought under control by the introduction of mass vaccination programs is also reflected in the announcement that Morocco will re-open its borders with during January, most probably on the 10th of the month. The frontiers were closed in mid-March, when the first state of emergency related to the pandemic was declared in Spain, and were partially re-opened in May in order to create a humanitarian “safe corridor” for Moroccan nationals who had been caught in the Spanish enclaves by the sudden border closure.
It had been hoped that the official date of the re-opening would be confirmed during a meeting on 17th December between the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and ministers in the Moroccan government, but that meeting has now been postponed until February 2021 due to the risks involved in ensuring a contagion-free environment for the two delegations.
But attention in the Spanish press continues to focus on the migrants who have been flown from the Canary Islands to mainland Spain, two of whom are reported to have tested positive for Covid in the city of Valencia. The Ministry of the Interior again reiterated on Thursday that it neither organizes nor manages the transportation of people who have entered Spain without authorization and who are entitled to remain for humanitarian reasons, but a document published by La Razón on Friday appears to prove that in fact orders are given concerning the procedures to be followed when such re-locations occur.
The document is presented as proof that the Ministry is aware of migrants travelling on flights from the Canaries to other parts of Spain, and is entitled “operational instructions for support at the airport of Manises” (the airport just outside Valencia). It concerns the arrival of five flights in Valencia during the latter part of this week and the policing strategies to be adopted at Manises.
The documentation clearly indicates that the Ministry has given permission for the transfer from the islands to the mainland to take place. The migrants who are flying have all been identified and are given an exceptional pass with which to enter Spain, so it is a little bewildering that the Ministry continues to deny its involvement when it is the Ministry itself issuing the documentation, planning the flights and arranging a police presence on the mainland for the scheduled flights.
However, the government continues to play down its involvement on any level, limiting its explanations to a reiteration of the fact that international protocols are being followed and that any migrants who are re-located undergo PCR coronavirus tests and fulfil quarantine requirements.
Cartagena
El Carmoli
Islas Menores and Mar de Cristal
La Manga Club
La Manga del Mar Menor
La Puebla
La Torre Golf Resort
La Union
Los Alcazares
Los Belones
Los Nietos
Los Urrutias
Mar Menor Golf Resort
Pilar de la Horadada
Playa Honda / Playa Paraiso
Portman
Roldan and Lo Ferro
San Javier
San Pedro del Pinatar
Santa Rosalia Lake and Life resort
Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
Torre Pacheco
Aledo
Alhama de Murcia
Bolnuevo
Camposol
Condado de Alhama
Fuente Alamo
Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
Lorca
Mazarron
Puerto de Mazarron
Puerto Lumbreras
Sierra Espuna
Totana
Abaran
Alcantarilla
Archena
Blanca
Corvera
El Valle Golf Resort
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
Lorqui
Molina de Segura
Mosa Trajectum
Murcia City
Peraleja Golf Resort
Ricote
Sucina
Condado de Alhama
El Valle Golf Resort
Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
Islas Menores and Mar de Cristal
La Manga Club
La Torre Golf Resort
Mar Menor Golf Resort
Mazarron Country Club
Mosa Trajectum
Peraleja Golf Resort
Santa Rosalia Lake and Life resort
Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
La Zenia
Lomas de Cabo Roig
CAMPOSOL TODAY Whats OnCartagena SpainCoronavirusCorvera Airport MurciaMurcia Gota Fria 2019Murcia propertyWeekly Bulletin