The Council of Ministers approved this Tuesday the draft of a new Asylum Law and has initiated the procedures to carry out a broad reform of the Immigration Law to, among other issues, ensure that the maximum period for international protection applications is mandatorily resolved within a maximum period of 12 weeks. During this time, “in certain cases,” those interested must “remain at the disposal of the Spanish authorities.”
According to the head of the Interior Ministry, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the change responds to the need to adapt the regulations to the European Pact on Migration and Asylum (PEMA) approved in 2024. Asked how it would affect people currently in this situation in Ceuta if it were already in force, he highlighted that the times would be “shorter” and “without prejudice to rights and freedoms.”
Furthermore, the reform would prevent the entry into national territory of those who arrive irregularly at the borders and do not have the right to international protection. In turn, asylum seekers who are denied will receive a notification “along with the denial of entry and the obligation to leave the country.”
According to the Government, the processing of both texts, which is in its initial phase, will be done with a “guarantee approach” respecting the human rights of foreigners and with the aim of responding “better” to the “new reality of the migration phenomenon” and that “is combined with the necessary management of borders to guarantee security.” What has not been specified is the estimated timeline for submission to a vote in Congress in a legislature that is already in countdown mode since general elections must be held at the latest within a year.
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Marlaska explained that the European directive must be transposed into the Spanish legal system, while the nine regulations also approved in Brussels are directly applicable. “However, on this occasion and due to the huge differences in the migration and asylum realities of member states, there are provisions in these regulations that establish various options or regulations that need to be specified in national legislations, which requires, in our case, legislative modifications,” he specified.
Additionally, the Interior Minister pointed out that the reform proposal “expressly incorporates realities that had already been relevant in practice, such as persecution related to gender, gender identity or expression, and disability,” which, he assures, “undoubtedly improves the approach to specific vulnerability situations.”
