Ceuta residents protest Spain’s plans to house migrants in public facilities after mass border crossing

Hundreds of residents of Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city on the North African coast, took to the streets Aug. 25 to protest the central government’s plans to expand temporary housing for migrants nearly a month after a mass border crossing from Morocco, according to reports. 

The demonstration began outside the Coronel Fiscer military barracks, one of several government sites identified as potential migrant housing, according to local outlet El Faro Ceuta. The protest grew as residents from several neighborhoods joined and marched through the city.

According to Breitbart, protesters carried Spanish and Ceuta flags and chanted slogans including “Ceuta is not for sale, Ceuta fights back” and “Invaders, expulsion.” Some reportedly called for the resignation of Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the government’s local representative.

The protest comes as Spain’s government moves to expand temporary accommodations for migrants who remain in Ceuta following an unprecedented border surge in late July. As Zeale News previously reported, about 60,000 migrants — equivalent to roughly 70% of Ceuta’s population — entered the Spanish territory from Morocco. 

According to estimates cited by Reuters, about 5,000 to 8,000 migrants remained in Ceuta as of Aug. 16. That day, hundreds of migrants protested on a popular beach in the territory, pressing Spanish authorities to grant them asylum rather than return them to Morocco, the outlet reported.

Europa Press reported that the government approved a royal decree Aug. 25 declaring the situation in Ceuta a matter of national security and authorizing the use of several locations for migrant housing, including five municipal sports centers, the military hospital, portions of the Fiscer barracks, and other state-owned sites.

The government has also placed Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Víctor Torres in charge of a new “single command” tasked with coordinating the response across the ministries involved, national security agencies, and Ceuta’s local government.

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