Spain: Ceuta First Instance Administrative Court recognises right of asylum seekers to move freely throughout Spanish territory

Date: 
Monday, November 4, 2013

Judgment no. 207/2013, published on 25 October 2013, declares unlawful the common practice of the Delegation of the Spanish Central Government to refuse access to mainland Spain for asylum-seekers whose claims have been declared admissible in the autonomous Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla, on the north coast of Africa. The judgment, this time applying to an asylum-seeker from Mali, joins other judgments containing the same ruling. The right of free movement is enshrined in Article 19 of the Spanish Constitution. According to ECRE member CEAR, the restriction of the right ‘is prompting asylum seekers to withdraw their applications and to risk their lives trying to cross to mainland Spain hidden in trucks and ferry boats’.

Although a link to the judgment is not available, CEAR has published a press release covering the decision.


This item was reproduced with the permission of ECRE from the weekly ELENA legal update supported by the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Funding Programme and distributed by email. The purpose of these updates is to inform asylum lawyers and legal organizations supporting asylum seekers and refugees of recent developments in the field of asylum law. Please note that the information provided is taken from publicly available information on the internet. Every reasonable effort is made to make the content accurate and up to date at the time each item is published but no responsibility for its accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by ECRE, the IRC or its partners.

Keywords: 
Freedom of movement (right to)
Tags: 
Spain