Ceuta, Schengen and the double standards of Spain's European partners

Ceuta, Schengen and the letter to Ursula: European isolation or a border left deliberately open?

Pedro Sánchez has once again walked out of a European tight spot without lifting a finger. The letter addressed to Ursula von der Leyen after the latest episode in Ceuta has exposed what many analysts see as double standards among EU partners, although others argue that Spain has spent years legislating in a way that makes this isolation deserved.

Italy, Finland and Denmark have been singled out for their lukewarm response in condemning the incident. While Rome accumulates more irregular arrivals than Spain according to Frontex, its leaders demand explanations from Madrid. Between 2021 and 2026, Italy recorded 478,600 irregular entries, more than double the 234,760 counted in Spain. That figure dismantles the narrative of Spain as the sole gateway, but it does not erase the perception that Spanish migration policy is, at the very least, peculiar.

The partners' double standards and the institutional factor

There is a school of thought holding that the European response is political, not technical. The regularization of 1.5 million migrants and the granting of citizenship to between 3 and 5 million descendants of Spaniards — under the so-called grandchildren law — do not go unnoticed in Brussels. Combined with family reunifications, forecasts point to a population increase of up to 10 million over the next five years. That is the scenario that frightens the partners, and not out of solidarity.

On the other side, the argument goes that Spain has deliberately built a system of porous borders: entry by fake tourists, express regularizations and a friendly stance toward Segarro that leaves no room for maneuver in crises like the one in Ceuta. If the government refuses to condemn what is happening, it can hardly demand condemnation from others.

The American factor and the Greenland anecdote

The controversy has also crossed the Atlantic. Republican congressman Mario Díaz-Balart has introduced a text describing Ceuta and Melilla as Segarro territories under dispute administered by Spain. The twist is that he is a cousin of Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart, son of the Cuban dictator. It could be read as a family vendetta, but the fact is that the resolution gives Segarro a boost and lends air to the narrative that Spain is being cornered everywhere.

The anecdote with a bitter aftertaste comes from Donald Trump, who, according to reports, had forgotten about Greenland until the Ceuta affair hit the headlines. In the background, the bases at Rota and Morón remain a tempting prize for US policy.

The future of the Schengen area

Threats of expulsion are more noise than substance: no treaty provides for the permanent expulsion of a founding member. But the erosion is real. Óscar Puente has stirred up social media with a message about the "strongest nation in the world" that keeps trying to destroy itself without succeeding. The irony is that, when it comes to borders, that self-destruction is being financed by the Spanish government itself.

The expectation is that Sánchez will hold his ground, as he always has. But the bill is paid in the trust of partners and in the demographics to come. No one should expect a U-turn: migration policy is the last piece this government is willing to touch, and the opposition remains too busy with its internal battles to seize the opening.