The deputy secretary of the PP, Alma Ezcurra, has announced in Palma a legal modification allowing agents to reject at the border those who arrive by swimming to the autonomous cities, following a Supreme Court ruling that limited this to the fences.
The Popular Party has chosen Mallorca to announce its new migratory offensive. The national deputy secretary of Sectoral Coordination, Alma Ezcurra, presented on Wednesday in Palma a bill to reform the Immigration Law and allow hot returns of migrants who arrive by swimming to the coasts of Ceuta and Melilla. The initiative, which the popular group will register in Congress, aims to provide legal coverage to the State Security Forces in light of a legal void detected after a recent ruling by the Supreme Court.
A legal void after the Supreme Court ruling
The announcement comes just a week after the Supreme Court ruled that hot returns can only be applied to those attempting to jump the fences of Ceuta and Melilla, not to migrants intercepted when they arrive by swimming. Ezcurra, during an event in the Balearic capital alongside the deputy spokesperson of the PP in Congress, José Vicente Marí Bosó, argued that the current regulations were approved in a context where the greatest migratory pressure occurred at the fences, but now a significant portion of irregular entries occur by sea. "The Security Forces do not have the tools to respond to these entries," the MEP pointed out.
The PP's proposal aims to extend border rejection to these new access routes, providing "legal and juridical protection" to the agents operating in both autonomous cities. Ezcurra expressed hope that the other parliamentary groups would support the measure in all chambers so that agents can act "with all guarantees".
The measure does not affect the Balearics, but the migratory crisis does
The MEP was clear in stating that the reform is exclusively limited to Ceuta and Melilla and would not apply to the Balearics, as arrivals to the archipelago occur by boat and are subject to a different legal regime. However, Ezcurra has highlighted the Balearics as one of the main concerns for the PP regarding migration. The popular leader described the past week in the islands as a "black week" following the arrival of nearly 600 irregular migrants during the last week, 350 of whom arrived in just four days.
"Just eight years ago, about 700 people arrived irregularly in the Balearics; last year it was 7,500," Ezcurra recalled, also criticizing that the forecasts for people who could benefit from the extraordinary regularization process in the islands have risen from 10,000 to 33,000, overwhelming the Government Delegation's expectations. The MEP's visit to Mallorca included meetings with representatives of the State Security Forces' unions and with associations of immigrants to address the migratory situation of the archipelago.
A debate that divides Balearic politics
The PP's proposal, although focused on the autonomous cities, reopens the migratory debate in the Balearics, where pressure on the coasts continues. While the Balearic Government, led by socialist Francina Armengol, calls for more resources and a comprehensive migratory policy from the State, the PP insists on the need to strengthen border controls. However, the reform proposed by the popular party does not alter the legal regime of arrivals by boat to the islands, which remain subject to the Immigration Law and maritime rescue protocols.
For the Mallorcan reader, the news has a direct echo: the migratory crisis in the archipelago remains one of the central themes of the political and social agenda. While the PP proposes measures for Ceuta and Melilla, arrivals of boats continue on the Balearic coasts, resulting in the collapse of reception centres and the debate over the distribution of unaccompanied minors among autonomous communities. The visit of Ezcurra and Marí Bosó to Palma underscores that the Balearics is a key scenario in the PP's migratory strategy, even though the announced reform does not have direct application in the islands.
The PP's bill will be registered in the coming weeks in the Congress of Deputies, where the party will seek support to advance a measure that, they argue, responds to the current reality of Spanish borders. Meanwhile, in the Balearics, migratory pressure remains a daily challenge that shapes the political and social agenda of the archipelago.
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