By Judgment No. 187/2025 of December 15, 2025 (published in the Official State Gazette — BOE — on January 24, 2026), the Spanish Constitutional Court issued a landmark ruling in the case of citizen Nikita Bakutin, annulling his administrative expulsion and all judicial decisions that had upheld it.
The Court found a violation of the right to effective judicial protection (Article 24.1 of the Spanish Constitution) and the principle of legality in sanctions (Article 25.1), as the expulsion had been imposed automatically for a migration-related administrative offence (Article 53.1.a of Organic Law 4/2000), without sufficient reasoning or an assessment of proportionality.
Key Findings of the Court
- A fine constitutes the primary sanction in cases of mere irregular stay in Spain. Administrative expulsion is an exceptional measure and cannot be applied automatically.
- Expulsion is permissible only where aggravating circumstances exist, such as: a real threat to public order or security; proven and relevant criminal convictions; use of false documentation; repeated immigration violations (recidivism); failure to comply with prior administrative orders or non-payment of fines.
- Simple police detentions without legal consequences or minor incidents cannot justify expulsion.
- Authorities must assess the personal circumstances of the foreign national, including: family ties (for example, relatives legally residing in Spain); social integration (arraigo); absence of meaningful ties in the country of origin; any other factors relevant to evaluating proportionality.
The Court expressly prohibited automatic expulsions based solely on irregular stay, and rejected the direct application of the EU Return Directive where this would undermine national proportionality guarantees.
This ruling significantly strengthens the protection of foreign nationals’ rights and obliges both administrative authorities and courts to provide individualized justification for every expulsion decision, preventing its use as a standard sanction.
📄 Full judgment: BOE-A-2026-1753
