The recognition of the right to apply for international protection in Spanish embassies and consulates (comments on the Supreme Court judgment 3445/2020)

Abstract

In a judgement based on the persistent violation of the required regulatory development of the 2009 Spanish Asylum Act, last October the Spanish Supreme Court has recognized the right to apply for international protection in Spanish Embassies and Consulates. In the context of the so-called Human Visa problem, this recognition implies the incorporation to Spanish Law of a right deliberately eluded in EU Law, questionably rejected by both the European Court of Justice in X and X v. Belgium and the European Court of Human Rights in M.N. v. Belgium, and progressively suppressed in European States national Laws. Under a growing migratory pression background, this study suggest that the challenge posed by this decision requires a response that balances a Law-abiding approach and the commitment to the right of asylum, on the one side, and the real capabilities of the Spanish Asylum system, on the other.