Ceuta Faces Severe Humanitarian Crisis as 72,000 Migrants Enter in Two Days, Sparking Political Clashes in Spain

Ceuta, the Spanish enclave, has been engulfed by one of the most serious political and humanitarian crises in recent years.

The situation began last week, when 72,000 migrants entered the territory on July 30 and 31, within just two days. The massive influx has now become a major source of conflict in Spanish domestic politics, while hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children remain stranded on the streets.

Spanish authorities swiftly returned around 70,000 people to Morocco, but approximately 2,000 migrants remain in Ceuta. More than 1,000 of them are unaccompanied minors. Ceuta’s deputy president, Alejandro Ramirez, said that the reception facility, with a capacity of just 90 places, is completely overcrowded.

Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist government has announced that €25 million will be made available to help Ceuta cope with the situation. However, an initiative to transfer these children to other regions of Spain has been blocked by the conservative People’s Party and Vox, the far-right party.

In a post on the social network X, Vox leader Santiago Abascal publicly opposed the government’s decision, stating that “not a single euro of Spaniards’ money should go to illegal migrants.”