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Part VI of 6 · SSRC-RED-CM-01 Report

Sources and References

Cited documentation, levels of evidence, and methodological note.

Sources and References

Sources and References

Sources are grouped by thematic blocks. When a figure is disputed in the body of the report, the text cites the sources for each end of the range.

1. History and sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla

  • Journal of Sessions of the Congress of Deputies, Commission no. 73, 13/03/2024 (history of treaties and Moroccan sovereignty declarations).
  • Army Museum / ejercito.defensa.gob.es (capture of Melilla, 1497).
  • melillamonumental.es; MelillaHoy, 16/09/2025.
  • Journal of Studies in International Security (RESI), "Ceuta and Melilla in national security terms," seguridadinternacional.es.
  • El Orden Mundial, 19/04/2023 (Hassan II and the link with Gibraltar).
  • El País (via University of Tartu thesis, dspace.ut.ee) — crisis of the November 2007 royal visit.
  • elEspañol; La Vanguardia, 22/12/2020 (statements by El Othmani).
  • Público, 28/02/2023; Real Instituto Elcano, 2021 (official Spanish position).
  • Ministry of Finance (hacienda.gob.es) and Official Gazettes: Organic Laws 1/1995 and 2/1995, of March 13 (Statutes of Autonomy).

2. Physical evolution of the fences

  • Government Delegation in Melilla, statements to Maldita.es, 16/02/2021 (1971 barbed wire fence).
  • Centre Delàs / Transnational Institute, report 46 «A Walled World» (chronologies and costs).
  • APDHA; SOS Racismo, «Southern Border Report 1995-2006».
  • ABC, 04/09/1998 (Melilla double fence); El País, 02/02/1999.
  • La Moncloa, press release 15/11/2019 (Reinforcement and Modernisation Plan, 32 M€; TRAGSA/ISDEFE contract 17,899,886.69 €).
  • La Vanguardia / EFE, 14/10/2020; El Faro de Ceuta, 05/08/2020; El Faro de Melilla, 25/08/2020; Antena 3, 18/10/2020; El Confidencial, 16/08/2020 (characteristics of the new fence).
  • Público, 16-18/01/2019 (removal of razor wire).
  • Library of the National Congress of Chile, report «Border Custody in Ceuta and Melilla» (surveillance systems, facial recognition).
  • Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR), cear.es (jump chronologies).

3. Crises and tragedies (2005, 2014, 2022, 2026)

  • CESTIM Thesis (A. Carreri); El País; ABC, 06/02/2014 (2005 crisis).
  • Doctors Without Borders, 2005 (abandonment of migrants in the desert).
  • Border Forensics, Irídia and AMDH, counter-investigation «Nador-Melilla», 23/04/2024 (borderforensics.org).
  • Amnesty International, report «They hit him on the head to check if he was dead», 13/12/2022; updated June 2023.
  • Lighthouse Reports / El País, November 2022 (video investigation of 24J).
  • Ombudsman, 2016 reports ("Asylum in Spain"), 2022-2023 (24J returns).
  • CEAR, 24/06/2025; Oxfam Intermón, 24/06/2025; ecoarglobal.org, 27/06/2026 (monitoring of 24J).
  • EFE, 19/07/2022 and 01/08/2026; France 24, 20/07/2022 and 23/06/2023; eldiario.es; laSexta, 13/12/2022.
  • CGPJ / Judicial Power, press release 08/07/2026 (TS ruling on the sea).
  • Europa Press, 30/07/2026; El País / Olive Press, 30-31/07/2026; EFE, 02-05/08/2026 (July-August 2026 crisis).
  • Montevideo Portal / EFE, 01/08/2026; Democrata, 31/07/2026 (2026 death toll).
  • Newtral, 01/08/2026 (verification of pull factor and duplication of arrivals in Ceuta).

4. Official figures, technology and humanitarian situation

  • Ministry of Interior, biweekly irregular immigration reports (interior.gob.es), 2022-2026; via Servimedia, 16/01/2026, and Europa Press, 31/07/2026.
  • La Vanguardia, 02/01/2026 and 31/07/2026 (swimming, 2025 deaths, trends).
  • El Faro de Ceuta, 25/02/2024 (deficiencies of the new fence).
  • Ceuta TV, 19/02/2025 and 13/08/2025 (Operation Hades; CETI).
  • Ceuta Actualidad, 19/12/2025; Ceuta Ahora, 11/01/2026 (minors; Tarajal collapses).
  • porCausa / Centre Delàs, January 2026 (€541 M in border control technology, 2018-2025).
  • El Periódico, 30/05/2025 (EU funds to Morocco); EFE / Investing, 02/01/2026 (2025 customs balance).
  • Real Instituto Elcano, 12/03/2026 (PEMA and restrictive turn).

5. Legal framework and jurisprudence

  • BOE-A-2015-3442: Organic Law 4/2015, of March 30, on the protection of citizen security (first final provision; tenth additional provision of LO 4/2000).
  • TEDH, case N.D. and N.T. v. Spain (applications 8675/15 and 8697/15): section judgment, 03/10/2017; Grand Chamber judgment, 13/02/2020.
  • STC 172/2020, of 19 November (BOE-A-2020-16819); STC 13/2021, of 28 January (BOE-A-2021-2832).
  • STS 114/2024 (ECLI:ES:TS:2024:114; CGPJ note, 22/01/2024) — repatriation of minors in August 2021.
  • Provincial Court of Cádiz, judgment of September 2025 (CGPJ note) — conviction for malfeasance of former Government delegate in Ceuta.
  • STS 814/2026, of 29 June (Chamber 3ª, Section 5ª, R. Casación 3795/2025; public communication 08/07/2026) — the sea excluded from border rejections.
  • IUSMIGRANTE / Complutense University of Madrid Report (Martínez Escamilla and Sánchez Tomás), «Illegal returns at the southern border», 2014.
  • UN Committee against Torture, examination of Spain, May 2015; Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, visit 15-26/10/2017; UN Human Rights Committee, 2015; CERD (case Abdoulaye Mara, 2015).
  • UNHCR Spain (2015-2026); Council of Europe: Commissioner for Human Rights and mission of Rapporteur Tomáš Boček, report SG/Inf(2018)25.
  • GADEM / Migreurop / APDHA / La Cimade, 2015 report (access to asylum); SJM and Irídia (2015).
  • European Parliament, resolution of 10/06/2021 (instrumentalisation of migration by Morocco).
  • EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2024/1349 (asylum procedure); Regulation (EU) 2024/1359, of 14/05/2024 (crisis and force majeure situations, instrumentalisation); revised Schengen Borders Code (2024); COM(2021) 890 final, 14/12/2021.
  • Reply by Commissioner Malmström to the European Parliament, 25/03/2014 (Frontex does not cover Ceuta and Melilla).

6. Analytical material provided by the report's author

  • Accumulated inputs from the bilateral strategic report Spain-Morocco (versions VER1_1 to VER2_0): CNI/DGED budgets and structure; HUMINT doctrine (US Army manuals FM 2-22.3 and FM 34-52); infiltration cases 2021; Pegasus cyberespionage; analysis of sociology of migration waves; penitentiary dimension (royal pardons); Alaouite geopolitics (Hassan II mosque, Tan-Tan/Cap Draa, «President Donald J. Trump Highway»); war of narratives (anti-spill barriers). These materials are cited in the body of the report as «CNI internal reports», «Spanish counterintelligence analysis» or «analysis from this report», as appropriate.

Methodological Note

  • The figures for the July-August 2026 crisis are provisional and are being counted as of the closing date of this version (06/08/2026); the report always presents the range with the source for each extreme.
  • Data marked by sources as approximate or discrepant (exact year of the first modern fence, amount of initial European funding, year of the three-dimensional wire rope, completion date of the new fence, final balance of victims of 24J-2022) are presented in the body of the report with the corresponding nuance.