Madrid Sets 12-Week Deadline For Asylum Claims After Ceuta Surge
The reform adds mandatory triage screening at the border and limits police detention to 72 hours, below the EU's seven-day cap.
- More than 70,000 people crossed into Ceuta on July 30-31, 2026; over 90% returned to Morocco.
- Interior Minister Grande-Marlaska and Migration Minister Elma Saiz presented the draft on August 25.
- Government earmarks 25 million euros to care for unaccompanied minors arriving without a guardian.
Why it matters: Seventy thousand people crossing in one weekend accomplished in days what years of asylum debate could not.
La Moncloa (Spanish Government) - Consejo de Ministros summary ↗ · Aug 25, 20268/25/26