Hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers in Ceuta face dire situations, sparking political and social tensions within the Spanish territory.
Printed On 10 Aug 2026
Ceuta’s chief has demanded the detention and expulsion of hundreds of asylum seekers and undocumented migrants roaming the streets within the Spanish North African territory after final month’s mass crossing from Morocco.
“An area that acts as an internment centre for foreigners should be arrange, the place these folks may be held and stay confined,” Ceuta’s Mayor-President Juan Jesus Vivas of the conservative Fashionable Celebration informed reporters.
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He stated the measure “should be achieved urgently” in order that the migrants “usually are not in our streets and that expulsion proceedings may be dealt with with higher velocity and ease”.
Mass border breach
A surge of asylum seekers and migrants swam or used inflatable rafts to cross from Morocco to Ceuta on the finish of July, sparking a debate in regards to the exterior borders of the European Union and controversy between Spain and different EU members.
Spanish authorities on Monday up to date the estimated variety of irregular migrants who made the journey to 80,000.
The Spanish authorities says 70,000 migrants and asylum seekers returned to Morocco inside two days.
However the hundreds who remained, together with tons of of unaccompanied youngsters who can’t be summarily deported underneath Spanish regulation, are struggling to entry meals, water, shelter and sanitation, placing a pressure on Ceuta’s assets.
Their future has sparked a political battle between Spain’s leftist central authorities and areas ruled by the primary conservative Fashionable Celebration and far-right Vox, which oppose taking in unaccompanied youngsters underneath present authorized provisions.
Ceuta Mayor Vivas estimates that between 8,000 and 11,000 migrants are nonetheless within the Spanish territory and says the state of affairs is “unsustainable”. He disputes the federal government’s statistics that solely 2,500 asylum seekers and undocumented migrants stay.
Police stated that 5,000 Ceuta residents gathered to protest on Sunday over the dealing with of the migration disaster that they are saying has left the enclave unsafe.
The Spanish authorities minister answerable for relations with the areas, Angel Victor Torres, assured Ceuta’s inhabitants that police and troop numbers had been ramped up, together with 40 p.c extra civil guards.
