Spain refuses asylum to a Moroccan kickboxing champion

"His request is not based on reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinions, membership of a particular social group, gender or sexual orientation; no persecution is even invoked. It is exclusively for professional and economic reasons that he left Morocco," can be read in the court’s decision to which El Faro de Ceuta had access.

The National Court adds that the decision of the Ministry of the Interior "is sufficiently motivated, as it explains the factual elements and the legal reasons that were taken into account to give rise to the rejection of the applicant’s request, who was able to defend himself against this rejection, as he did in the context of the present procedure".

The court also considers that there is no fear of persecution against the Moroccan in the event of a return to his country. "The need for international protection, whether in the form of asylum or subsidiary protection, is not established," the court specifies, considering that the applicant has not provided proof of "the existence of exceptional circumstances that would allow the application of humanitarian reasons".

The applicant, S., is one of the hundreds of young people who arrived en masse in Ceuta on May 17, 2021. The young man had left Morocco in order to build a better future for himself in Spain. In his country, he practiced kickboxing and had even participated in the national championship in 2017-18, until reaching the semi-finals. But the owner of his club sold his place to another fighter, shattering his dreams.