Balearic deportations to Morocco stall over passports

Deportations to Morocco from the Balearic Islands are stalling even when legal conditions are met for people involved in criminal cases. The General State Prosecutor’s Office flagged the problem in its 2026 annual report, published on Thursday, 10 September. The report covers the previous year and also names Seville, Valencia, Murcia and Zaragoza.

Morocco will accept a return only when the person has a valid original passport, the report says. Many convicted people deliberately hide the document, prosecutors add. Algeria, meanwhile, hardly documents deportations at all, making this route effectively impossible in some provinces.

The lack of papers and limited cooperation from consulates remain the biggest reasons deportations fail, according to the report. Court backlogs add further delay, as do defendants or convicted people who cannot be found, unresolved criminal liabilities and judgments that do not order deportation. In some cases, the sentencing court does not promptly notify the relevant government authority of a conviction.

The obstacles affect deportations ordered during an investigation under Article 57.7 of Spain’s Foreigners Law, known as LOEX, as well as removals imposed in a judgment under Article 89 of the Criminal Code. The report points to Segovia as a contrast: authorities approved 14 of 16 deportation requests there, and 13 were carried out.

Topics: Court cases · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com