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Foreigner Detention Centres (CIE)
As already explained above in the General section on detention, there are 7 Centros de Internamiento de Extranjeros (CIE) in Spain.[1] These facilities are located in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Murcia, Algeciras, Las Palmas, and Tenerife.
Police stations and CATE
Persons arriving in Spain by sea and automatically issued with detention orders are detained in police stations for a period of 72 hours with a view to the execution of removal measures. Police stations in Málaga, Tarifa, Almería and Motril are mainly used for that purpose.
As mentioned in Access to the Territory, in June 2018 the Spanish Government put in place new resources to manage arrivals and to carry out the identification of persons’ vulnerabilities in the first days of arrival. Specific facilities for emergency and referral include the Centres for the Temporary Assistance of Foreigners (Centros de Atención Temporal de Extranjeros, CATE) and the Centres for Emergency Assistance and Referral (Centros de Atención de Emergencia y Derivación, CAED). While CAED are open facilities, CATE operate under police surveillance and persons cannot go out until they have been identified. As reported by the Spanish Ombudsperson, CATEs are not properly regulated and do not fall under specific protocols, as they are considered as “extensions” of National Police stations.[2]
After the closure of the Arguineguín dock, which was used as the first place for reception of migrants reaching the Canary Islands, the CATE of Barranco Seco was opened.
In its 2024 annual report, the Spanish Ombudsperson, in its capacity as National Prevention Mechanism against Torture reported on the refurbishments carried out in some CATEs thanks to the interventions carried out by the NPM in previous years, as was the case at the facility in Crinavis (Bahía de Algeciras, Cádiz), where it led to the provision of dining areas, rest areas, hot showers and air conditioning. In any case, even though the conditions of stay in the facility have been improved, it is still not adequate.[3]
Information on observations and recommendations made by the institution to the CATEs is provided in the section on Arrivals by sea.
Border facilities
Applicants at borders are also detained in ad hoc facilities during the admissibility phase and in any case for no more than 8 days. According to the OAR, operational transit zones are mainly those in Madrid Adolfo Suárez Barajas Airport and Barcelona El Prat Airport, accommodating up to 200 and 10 people respectively.[4]
There is evidence of one “non-admission room” (Sala de Inadmisión de Fronteras) in Barcelona El Prat Airport, one room in Málaga Airport and two rooms in Terminals 1 and 4 of the Madrid Barajas Airport.[5] These rooms are owned by the public company AENA and are guarded by agents of the National Police.
[1] For more information on CIE, see Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes, ‘Informe CIE 2023. Internamiento “muteado”. Personas cuyo sufrimiento queda oculto a la sociedad’, June 2024, available here.
[2] Defensor del Pueblo, ‘Informe anual 2019. Mecanismo Nacional de Prevención’, October 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/3p6qWxH, 66.’
[3] Defensor del Pueblo, ‘Informe anual 2024. Anexos. Anexos del Mecanismo Nacional de Prevención (MNP). Anexo A – INFORME COMPLETO DEL MNP’, March 2025, available here.
[4] Information provided by OAR, 8 March 2019.
[5] Defensor del Pueblo, ‘Mapa de los centros de privación de libertad’, 5 February 2018, available at: http://bit.ly/2EDjc30.