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EU Borders and Shifting Internal Security pp 81–100Cite as

Integrated Border Management and Irregular Migration at the South European-North African Border: The Case of Spain

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Abstract

Spain has implemented a progressive and comprehensive multi-layered deterrence strategy to control unwanted migration at its borders. This strategy has evolved along three basic lines. Cooperation with African countries (externalization) has been key to fostering fast return procedures, whereas cooperation with the EU (communitarization through joint Frontex operations) has only been complementary to national border control initiatives driven by technological innovation (technologization).

An additional aspect analysed in this chapter is the emergence of a humanitarian border in the Spanish case, a scenario in which new forms of civil mobilization in defence of the human rights of migrants have emerged reactively. Particularly at the land borders in Ceuta and Melilla, the highly visible and well-documented border control practices have raised growing concerns and public debate about the violation of fundamental rights, such as non-refoulement and asylum.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Research developed in the framework of MIND Research Project (grant number CSO2014-53680) funded by the Spanish National Research Program (Programa Excelencia), 2015–2017.

  2. 2.

    In a 2004 article, Walters proposed four analytics to conceptualize different facets of the EU’s changing borders and argued that each of these analytics could be associated with a particular “geo-strategy”. Inspired by Michel Foucher’s work, he referred to one of these analytics as “limes”, in reference to the border defense or “strategic figure” of Ancient Rome which marked the boundaries of the Roman Empire. Foucher describes limes as “essentially a strategy aiming both at containing unwelcome migrants and at organizing trade with Romanized peoples (Foucher 1998). “The strategy of limes does not envisage a progressive or eventual subsumption of the exterior territory and its inhabitants. Instead, it effects the institutionalization of asymmetries of economy, culture and order […] It is an asymmetrical relationship which remains a permanent source of tension” (Walters 2004).

  3. 3.

    Seahorse Network is a safe regional satellite communications network coordinated by Spain, to exchange information on maritime irregular immigration in which police authorities from Mauritania, Morocco, Cape Verde and Senegal participate.

  4. 4.

    During 2006 more than 30,000 irregular migrants arrived at the shores (when not intercepted) and ports (after being intercepted) of the Canary Islands. The term “cayuco” refers to a type of wooden fishing boat used in Western African countries. This event was labelled as a “crisis” because there was a sudden amplification of the Atlantic route from Africa to Spain that implied the geographical extension of control efforts beyond the Mediterranean route (Godenau and Zapata 2008).

  5. 5.

    The routes are: the Western Africa route, the Western Mediterranean route, the Central Mediterranean route, the Apulia and Calabria route, the Circular Albania-Greece route, the Western Balkans route, the Eastern Balkans route and the Eastern Border route (Frontex 2014a, see Fig. 1).

  6. 6.

    See http://www.closeye.eu/index.php/the-project

  7. 7.

    Other European technological projects implemented since 2011 in which Spain actively participated are WIMAS, OPARUS, SEABILLA and PERSEUS (see Godenau 2014).

  8. 8.

    The positive results of the Atlantic Seahorse project have led to the creation of a new multilateral Seahorse network in the Mediterranean, which is currently being implemented and in which participate Spain, Italy, France, Malta, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece and Libya, with the support of the European member states and the European Commission. It is also expected that Algiers, Tunis and Egypt will join this network. The creation of Atlantic Seahorse is another example of the influence of the initiatives developed by Spain on the adoption of multilateral and communitarian measures at the European level.

  9. 9.

    As evidenced by the intensification of the Ceuta and Melilla route after the maritime perimeter was reinforced; see Koslowski 2011, p. 7, about “squeezing the balloon” at the US border.

  10. 10.

    To construct this concept Walters uses the definition of humanitarian government mentioned by Fassin “as the administration of human collectivities in the name of a higher moral principle which sees the preservation of life and the alleviation of suffering as the highest value of action” (Fassin 2007).

  11. 11.

    Among them the Pro-Human Rights Association of Andalusia (APDHA), CEAR, SOS Racismo, Amnesty International or the Acoge Network.

  12. 12.

    A large part of the migration control actions have been implemented over the past decade in Spanish maritime borders. However, the peripheral geography of this kind of intervention has transformed these kinds of control sites into what Coutin denominates “spaces of noexistence” (Coutin 2003).

  13. 13.

    See, for example, PRODEIN videos at vimeo (https://vimeo.com/108211634)

  14. 14.

    See, for example, “The Land Between”, a film by David Fedele (http://thelandbetweenfilm.com/) or “Ceuta douce prison” by Jonathan Millet and Loic H. Rechi (http://ceuta-douce-prison.tumblr.com/)

  15. 15.

    Diario de Sesiones. Congreso de los Diputados, Comisiones, núm. 637, de 24/09/2014.

  16. 16.

    The Spanish border fences at Ceuta and Melilla include several internal razor wire barriers set up on Spanish soil. See http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2014/03/03/actualidad/1393857848_793887.html

  17. 17.

    Debates on the EU approach to migration and the expulsion of migrants from Spain. Plenary sessions [26-11-2014], Press Release, European Parliament.

  18. 18.

    http://ecre.org/component/content/article/70-weekly-bulletin-articles/943-muinieks-urges-spain-to-withdraw-amendment-giving-legal-cover-to-pushbacks-in-ceuta-and-melilla.html

  19. 19.

    Boletín Oficial de las Cortes Generales, 18 de septiembre de 2014, página 241.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Economics, Geography and Demography, Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Center for Human and Social Sciences, C/Albasanz, 26-28, Madrid, 28037, Spain

    Ana López-Sala

  2. Department of Applied Economics and Quantitative Methods, University La Laguna, Campus de Guajara, 38071, La Laguna, Spain

    Dirk Godenau

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  1. Ana López-Sala
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Correspondence to Ana López-Sala .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Europe University Viadrina, Frankfurt, Oder, Germany

    Raphael Bossong

  2. School of Languages and Social Scie, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom

    Helena Carrapico

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López-Sala, A., Godenau, D. (2016). Integrated Border Management and Irregular Migration at the South European-North African Border: The Case of Spain. In: Bossong, R., Carrapico, H. (eds) EU Borders and Shifting Internal Security. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17560-7_5

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