CEUTA, Spain – The National Police has detected a shift in asylum applications from migrants who entered Ceuta during the late-July incursion, with police sources revealing that 70 per cent of requests now argue that they are suffering persecution in their countries of origin because of their sexual orientation. Officers suspect this turn is because these people are receiving advice on the steps to take to achieve their goal of staying in Spain, with only five of the files accepted so far.
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It is estimated that around 10,000 migrants who entered during the 30 and 31 July incursion remain in Ceuta. The clearing of the illegal camps brought a screening, and fewer and fewer are hiding from the authorities in overcrowded flats or rocky areas to avoid being registered, with police suspecting they have done so because they have outstanding matters with the justice system and do not want to be identified so as not to be directly expelled from the autonomous city.
One of the most significant changes in recent weeks is that Foreigners and Scientific Police officers, who collect migrants’ data, have detected an increase in applications alleging persecution for sexual orientation. It should be noted that in Morocco same-sex relations are punishable under Article 489 of the Criminal Code with sentences of between six months and three years in prison, so a homosexual person may have legitimate grounds to request international protection in Spain. However, it is not enough to say you are homosexual for asylum to be granted, as the Spanish authorities must assess whether there is a well-founded fear of persecution on that basis if the person returns to Morocco, with it not being essential to have already suffered an assault or detention but requiring a sufficiently proven risk.
How is it verified? It is a complicated process, but basically when a person requests asylum a file is formalised and their statement is collected, with officers conducting fairly extensive questionnaires and interviews, with documentation and questionnaire parameters that in some cases reach fifteen pages. The Office of Asylum and Refuge studies each case, with specialists assessing the coherence of the account, personal circumstances, possible threats or assaults, any documentation that can be provided and information on the situation in the country of origin, and they can also ask for clarification when there are relevant contradictions.
🚨🇪🇸🇲🇦🏳️🌈 | LOS INVASORES MARROQUÍES SE HACÍAN PASAR POR HOMOSEXUALES PARA CONSEGUIR ASILO EN ESPAÑA La Policía detectó que cerca del 70% de las nuevas solicitudes de marroquíes llegados a Ceuta empezaron a alegar "persecución por orientación sexual", pese a que inicialmente predominaban los motivos económicos. Los agentes sostienen que los solicitantes comenzaron a adaptar sus relatos tras recibir asesoramiento sobre qué argumentos tienen más posibilidades de obtener el estatus de refugiado.
— La Derecha Diario (@laderechadiario) October 17, 2026
It is an especially complicated assessment because there is no physical or single proof that allows sexual orientation to be accredited, and legally intimate proof cannot be demanded nor stereotypes used to decide, which is why specialised professionals are needed, capable of distinguishing a well-founded application from one that may contain false statements.
According to internal estimates handled by officers, approximately 95 per cent of asylum applications they are seeing correspond to Moroccan citizens while the remaining 5 per cent are of other nationalities, and among the Moroccan applications already resolved, denials are running at around 99 per cent. During the first thirty days many people mainly alleged economic reasons, such as not having work or wanting a better life in Spain, but subsequently an important change has been observed, with around 70 per cent of recent applications now said to allege persecution for sexual orientation. Information circulates among applicants themselves about the grounds that may have the best chance of succeeding, and officers suspect some people may be adapting their statements to those criteria or that NGOs may be giving this advice.
As for grants, officers have located some 19 favourable resolutions published in the Official State Gazette although they do not know the specific reasons for the protection being granted, which only the Office of Asylum and Refuge knows, with police having reliable knowledge that sexual grounds were invoked in five of them. Similarly, a very small proportion of Moroccan applicants are reaching the judicial route, that is the appeal before the National High Court, at around 0.1 per cent according to their estimates. Denial does not mean police can automatically expel the person, as the resolution must first be notified and the corresponding appeals and guarantees respected.
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One of the problems officers encounter is that some people, when they learn their application has been denied or fear possible expulsion, leave the places where they were housed, with some returning voluntarily to Morocco but others detected moving to hills, neighbourhoods or homes where their whereabouts are harder to determine. Asked about this, the Unified Police Union expresses concern over the shift in asylum applications, underlining that it is aware that the grounds that may favour the granting of asylum are circulating by word of mouth. “This does not prove there is widespread fraud, but it does demand extreme checks,” union sources say, considering that asylum must protect those who genuinely suffer persecution and not become a route to evade immigration law through false statements, demanding more specialists, rigorous investigations and greater agility to resolve files and execute the expulsions that legally correspond, because there is no point denying an application if the person then disappears and police cannot locate them.
