Ferrer Gallardo, XavierGabrielli, Lorenzo2024-06-192024-06-192024Ferrer-Gallardo X, Gabrielli L. The fenced off cities of Ceuta and Melilla: Mediterranean nodes of migrant (im)mobility. In: Zapata-Barrero R, Awad I, editors. Migrations in the Mediterranean: IMISCOE regional reader. Cham: Springer; c2024. p. 289-308. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-42264-5_17978-3-031-42263-8http://hdl.handle.net/10230/60527This contribution examines the evolution of the border regime of Ceuta and Melilla since the cities joined the EU in 1986, and became crucial Mediterranean nodes of migrant (im)mobility towards the Schengen Area. The logic of border externalization has paved the way for a wide range of controversial migration control practices around the North African cities. These practices have been scrutinized from academic, journalistic and activist perspectives and their analysis has shed light, on the one hand, on the logic of exceptionality that governs the EU border regime in these cities, and on the other, on how both migrants and activists have challenged, denounced and resisted this regime, thus contributing to its constant reconfiguration. The text concludes by analyzing the consequences of two interrelated factors that have acted as vectors of change: firstly, the diplomatic-border ¿crisis¿ of May 2021, and secondly, the two years of border closure after the Covid-19 pandemic. Both factors have led to a new reconfiguration of cross-border mobility management in the region and, as the deadly events at the Melilla fence in June 2022 illustrate, to the consolidation of Spanish-Moroccan operational cooperation which entails the recrudescence of migratory obstruction practices at the EU external borders.application/pdfeng© The Author(s) 2024. This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.info:eu-repo/semantics/bookPart2024-06-19http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42264-5_17Ceuta and MelillaMigration(Im)mobilityGeopoliticsBorderinginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess