The General Administration lodged an appeal against the sentence of the High Court of Justice of Madrid in which the later  recognised the applicants’ fundamental right to move within the national territory, from Melilla to Madrid, and to choose their place of residence freely. The General Administration argued  that the judgement infringed the following legal provisions: Article 18 (1) of Law 12/2009 of 30 October on the right of asylum and subsidiary protection, Article 36 (‘Ceuta and Melilla’) of the Schengen Borders Code, approved by Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 of 15 March 2006, and Articles 5 and 13 thereof, as well as the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985, paragraph III (1) (f) which provides for the maintenance of identify checks and documents on sea and air connections from Ceuta and Melilla to another part of Spain.

The applicant lodged a statement of opposition in which he pointed out the error concerning the legislation to be interpreted, in so far as Regulation (EC) No562/2006 was withdrawn on 11 April 2016 and substituted by Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 establishing the Schengen Borders Code.

The Supreme Court noted that the questions raised in this appeal has already been examined by the Chamber in the cases of Luis Andres vs Spanish Public Administration (Administracion General del Estado) [Decision TSJM no. 19/2019 of 17 January 2019] (No.1130/2020) and General Administration of the State (Administracion General del Estado) vs Jefatura de Policía de Ceuta (No.1128/2020). These Supreme Court judgements concerned foreign nationals who had applied for international protection in the cities of Ceuta or Melilla, where it ruled that the administrative action limiting the residence to the respective city where the application was submitted, was contrary to the rules governing the procedure for granting international protection.

The Supreme Court therefore ruled that every foreign national who has applied for international protection or asylum in the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta and Melilla has the right to freedom of movement and to establish his or her residence in any other city within the national territory, without that right being limited by the administration by virtue of the status of  applicant for international protection and always with the obligation of the applicant to notify the residence change to the respective administration.