01623nam a22001457a 4500 530968 530968 250722b ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d Ramos, Juan Ruiz 55518 Let me move: A legal analysis of residence restrictions on asylum-seekers in Ceuta, Melilla and the canary Islands Social & Legal Studies 34(3), Jun, 2025: p.421-438 For over a decade, Spanish police have prevented asylum-seekers in Ceuta and Melilla—two Spanish exclaves in Northern Africa—from moving to mainland Spain. Since 2020, similar measures have been taken in the Canary Islands. However, this practice has not taken place in a vacuum. This article shows that the Spanish authorities have long drafted and interpreted Spanish law in such a way as to create a veil of legality over these residence restrictions. Moreover, they have ignored attempts by the courts to uphold the freedom of asylum-seekers to choose their place of residence within the borders of the State. The government and the police have thus exercised a kind of “diluted” legal social control, in which legal certainty and human rights safeguards are out of the picture. This article analyzes the issue from different perspectives, using social control theories, classical legal doctrinal analysis, and comparisons with criminal law.- Reproduced https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/09646639231226227 Asylum-seekers, Right to choose one’s residence, right to free movement, Social control, Legal control, Refugee rights. 55519 Social & Legal Studies AR 0 0 ddc 0 0 406167 IIPA IIPA 2025-07-22 34(3), Jun, 2025: p.421-438 AR136688 2025-07-22 AR