Spain's Partido Popular seeks exam fraud crackdown and maritime 'hot return' law change

The Spanish Partido Popular (PP) has tabled a parliamentary proposal to address alleged irregularities in public‑sector recruitment exams for Renfe and the Social Security. The party urges the Congress to order measures that prevent fraud and guarantee equality after a psychotechnical verbal test had to be repeated for 2,213 candidates amid suspicions that the exam content was leaked. Renfe and the union SEMAG backed the repeat, while CCOO and UGT opposed it.

In a separate initiative, the PP has introduced a bill to amend the Immigration Law’s extra‑tenth provision so that “hot return” (devoluciones en caliente) procedures can also be applied to irregular maritime arrivals at the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. The amendment, presented by PP deputy Sofía Acedo of Melilla, argues that a recent Supreme Court interpretation limits hot returns to land‑border breaches and seeks to adapt the rule to sea entries while respecting human‑rights and EU safeguards.