The fenced off cities of Ceuta and Melilla: Mediterranean nodes of migrant (im)mobility

This contribution examines the evolution of the border regime of Ceuta and Melilla since the cities joined the EU in 1986, and became crucial Mediterranean nodes of migrant (im)mobility towards the Schengen Area. The logic of border externalization has paved the way for a wide range of controversial...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ferrer Gallardo, Xavier, Gabrielli, Lorenzo
Tipo de recurso: capítulo de libro
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10230/60527
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/60527
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42264-5_17
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Ceuta and Melilla
Migration
(Im)mobility
Geopolitics
Bordering
Descripción
Sumario:This contribution examines the evolution of the border regime of Ceuta and Melilla since the cities joined the EU in 1986, and became crucial Mediterranean nodes of migrant (im)mobility towards the Schengen Area. The logic of border externalization has paved the way for a wide range of controversial migration control practices around the North African cities. These practices have been scrutinized from academic, journalistic and activist perspectives and their analysis has shed light, on the one hand, on the logic of exceptionality that governs the EU border regime in these cities, and on the other, on how both migrants and activists have challenged, denounced and resisted this regime, thus contributing to its constant reconfiguration. The text concludes by analyzing the consequences of two interrelated factors that have acted as vectors of change: firstly, the diplomatic-border ¿crisis¿ of May 2021, and secondly, the two years of border closure after the Covid-19 pandemic. Both factors have led to a new reconfiguration of cross-border mobility management in the region and, as the deadly events at the Melilla fence in June 2022 illustrate, to the consolidation of Spanish-Moroccan operational cooperation which entails the recrudescence of migratory obstruction practices at the EU external borders.