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Spanish Police Clear Migrants from Ceuta Beaches
Confirmed
In Short: Spanish authorities moved thousands of migrants from Ceuta's beaches to a new temporary camp amid chaos and resistance.
Spanish police began clearing thousands of migrants from Ceuta's beaches on Friday, firing rubber bullets and using batons to manage the crowds. The operation, which started shortly before 7 a.m. local time, aimed to relocate migrants to a new camp near the port.
The new camp, which can accommodate 1,700 people, includes showers and beds. However, the camp cannot hold all of the estimated 13,000 migrants who remain in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on North Africa's coast.
Digital Transformation Minister Óscar López said the move was a key step to help authorities process cases more quickly and ease pressure on public spaces. He noted that over 5,300 migrants had returned to Morocco within a month after the July influx.
The July surge saw over 70,000 migrants cross into Ceuta from Morocco in a chaotic event that left scores dead and sparked EU immigration debates. Despite the decline in arrivals, images of migrants in Ceuta have fueled support for far-right parties, according to EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner.
Ceuta's conservative local authorities opposed the relocation, and residents expressed worry and anger over the situation. Isolated episodes of violence, including fights among migrants and stonings of military patrols, have occurred as the crisis continues.
What's confirmed
- Police began rounding up migrants at 6:30 a.m.
- Friday (0430 GMT), according to a Spanish government source in Ceuta.
What's still developing
- The AFP news agency reported that the new location where some of the migrants are being settled in tents near the port has showers and beds.
- “We have the decreasing numbers, but images from Ceuta, of course, overshadow the actual successes and the actual facts and figures,” Brunner told Reuters in an interview.
- Separately on Friday, Spain’s World Cup-winning coach Luis de la Fuente released a video from Ceuta as he announced his Nations League squad in a show of support for the enclave.
- Spain estimates 10,000 migrants remain in the tiny territory.
- Ceuta, with an official population of 80,000 residents, has been in Spanish possession since 1580.
- It is one of two Spanish territories on the North African coast, along with Melilla.
- Christians and Muslims, Spanish and Moroccan residents and day workers all live there in relative harmony behind a border fence that many migrants from across Africa attempt to cross or swim around for a better life in Europe.
- With no end to the crisis in sight, worry and anger are growing among Ceuta’s 84,000 residents, many of whom accuse the government of abandoning them.