Morocco cooperation helps cut irregular arrivals to Spain by 35%, CEAR says

Spain recorded a 13.7% drop in asylum applications in 2025, with refugee support group CEAR linking the decline partly to agreements with Morocco and other countries aimed at restricting irregular migration routes.

A total of 144,396 people applied for international protection in Spain last year, down from a record 167,366 in 2024 and ending several years of growth, the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid said in its 2026 annual report.

CEAR said the decline did not reflect a reduction in the global need for protection. Instead, it attributed the fall principally to fewer arrivals following border-control agreements with third countries and to the deterrent effect of Spain’s revised immigration regulations.

The organisation cited cooperation with Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal as part of a wider European policy of moving migration controls beyond the bloc’s borders.

Morocco has become a central partner in Spain’s efforts to restrict departures across the western Mediterranean and Atlantic routes through border surveillance, action against smuggling networks and the interception of boats before they reach Spanish territory.

Arrivals continue to fall

Spanish Interior Ministry figures showed irregular arrivals by sea and land remained substantially lower in the first months of 2026.

Spain recorded 10,224 arrivals between January and May, compared with 15,769 during the same period in 2025, a decline of about 35%, according to figures cited in the CEAR report.

The sharpest reduction was recorded on the Canary Islands route, where arrivals fell 71% to 3,184 during the first five months of the year.

The decline followed intensified cooperation with countries along the Atlantic route, particularly Mauritania, Senegal and Morocco, as Spain and the European Union increased funding and operational support for migration control.

CEAR warns over access to protection

CEAR criticised the fall as evidence that restrictive migration policies were preventing people from reaching territories where they could request asylum, rather than resolving the causes of forced displacement.

The organisation also cited changes to Spain’s immigration regulations that took effect in May 2025. Under the rules, time spent awaiting an asylum decision cannot generally be counted toward certain residency pathways, which CEAR said had discouraged some people from applying for protection.

The report comes as the European Union begins applying its Migration and Asylum Pact, which took effect on June 12 and introduces faster border procedures, expanded screening and new rules governing responsibility for asylum claims.