Spanish police unions warn of migration crisis and regularisation scale

Spanish police unions are raising alarms regarding the scale of migrant regularisation and the operational strain on law enforcement. The National Police union, Jupol, warned a parliamentary committee that the government’s regularisation process could eventually affect up to four million people when accounting for family reunification under Spanish law. While government ministers initially estimated the process would cover 500,000 people, police sources report that applications have already exceeded 1.3 million.

Simultaneously, the Federal Police Union (UFP) has denounced what it describes as the “absolute collapse” of police forces in the North African enclave of Ceuta. The union reports that officers are facing extreme stress due to a surge in asylum requests and mass migration arrivals that began in late July. The UFP cited rising violence and the exhaustion of local resources, noting that the pressure has led to significant health issues among personnel, including an officer suffering a heart attack due to work-related stress.