Author
Persons held within the CETI in Ceuta and Melilla are not free to move outside the two cities, also due to their geographical location. In order to be transferred to the peninsula applicants and migrants have to wait for the permission of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, which manages the centres, and of the Ministry of Interior which authorises their departure. In two decisions taken in July 2020, the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) recognised the right to free movement of asylum seekers from Ceuta and Melilla across Spanish territory.[1] Despite the ruling, reports of asylum seekers denied to freely leave Ceuta and Melilla continued to be reported up until the beginning of 2021 (see Freedom of Movement). As above mentioned, two additional decisions the Supreme Court reaffirmed the existence of this right in 2021.[2]
There is a persisting general lack of transparency concerning the criteria followed by the CETI for transferring people to the Spanish peninsula, which has been repeatedly criticised by human rights organisations. In particular, organisations have persistently denounced discriminatory treatment based on countries of origin for the issuance of permits to allow transfer to the peninsula. For years, transfers to the mainland from Ceuta have been provided to nationals of Sub-Saharan countries who did not apply for asylum, whereas asylum seekers and nationals of countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka often waited for more than a year in the enclave. In Melilla, on the other hand, nationals of Sub-Saharan countries and Syria benefitted from transfers to the mainland, but Moroccans, Algerians and Tunisians did not.[3] As previously mentioned, since the end of 2021 the practice of transfers to mainland seems to have changed. Asylum seekers have started to be transferred to mainland independently of their nationality. Such practice continued in 2024. Despite this, in December 2025 Amnesty International still denounced the lack of transparency and unequal criteria in the transfers from the CETIs to mainland. It reinstated its call to the government to guarantee the immediate transfer to the mainland of persons in particular vulnerable situations, especially when they cannot receive adequate care at the CETIs (i.e. persons with disabilities, families with school-age children, pregnant women, persons with psychological problems, victims of trafficking, gender-based violence, sexual violence or torture, and LGBTIQ+ persons).[4]
[1] Tribunal Supremo, Sala de lo Contencioso, STS 2497/2020, 29 July 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/3bBeLWw; Tribunal Supremo, Sala de lo Contencioso, STS 2662/2020, 29 July 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/2N6iqBt.
[2] Tribunal Supremo, Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo, Decision nº 173/2021, 10 February 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3qpUOqa; Tribunal Supremo, Sala de lo Contencioso-Administrativo, Decision nº 508/2021, 14 April 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3q79dbQ.
[3] CEAR, Refugiados y migrantes en España: Los muros invisibles tras la frontera sur, December 2017, available at: http://bit.ly/2mEUPqH, 22-26.
[4] Amnistía Internacional, ‘Qué son los CETI en España y por qué vulneran derechos humanos’, 19 December 2025, available here.