Senegalese passport holders who have not held a Schengen visa for the previous two years have been asked by the Spanish authorities to ban them from traveling on flights with layovers in Spain until February 19. This request has been sent to the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccans Residing Abroad via a diplomatic note from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the name of the Spanish Embassy in Rabat.

Senegalese nationals traveling via Spain on their way to their destination must have a transit visa, according to Spanish authorities, who have encouraged the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs to uphold these restrictions until February 19.

A considerable rise in the number of Senegalese passport holders requesting refuge upon arrival at the Madrid airport following a trip to Brazil with a layover in Spain prompted the announcement of these visas in January.

The allocated areas for asylum seekers at Madrid’s Barajas airport are now congested as a result of the increasing number of Senegalese nationals applying for refuge. According to the Spanish Commission for Refugees (CEAR), there will be over 400 asylum seekers at the Madrid airport by the end of December 2023, making the existing scenario “unsustainable.” According to CEAR spokesman Elena Muñoz, people were forced to share beds on the floor and had to deal with cockroach and pest infestations.

According to reports, over a hundred people were forced to spend the last three nights sleeping on cardboard on the floor of Terminal 4’s transit area. The last two weeks have seen a worsening of the situation, which is why Spanish authorities have asked to be notified about these travelers by Royal Air Maroc.

The Ministry of the Interior’s Office of Asylum and Refuge (OAR) statistics show that 163,218 applications for international protection were filed in Spain in the previous year. This is the greatest amount since the office’s founding in 1992 and represents a 37% increase over 2022.