Ceuta was once again gripped by tensions on Friday, when thousands of migrants took to the streets of the Spanish enclave to secure a place at the new camp set up near the port.
For several weeks, many of them had been staying on beaches or in makeshift shelters, while Spanish authorities had begun relocating them.
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The operation to transfer them to the new facility began at around 06:30 local time. The situation quickly spiraled out of control after a large number of people attempted to enter the camp at the same time.
Footage published from Ceuta showed large crowds running through the streets. Some migrants could be heard shouting and celebrating as they tried to reach the accommodation center.
Local media reported that National Police units and specialized riot-control forces were deployed in the area. Tear gas was also reportedly used during the intervention to bring the crowds under control.
The temporary camp set up by the Spanish authorities near the port has a capacity of around 1,700 people and is equipped with tents, beds and showers.
The facility’s capacity remains far below the number of migrants currently in Ceuta. Local authorities say around 13,000 people remain in the enclave, after most of those who entered during the latest wave of arrivals were returned.
For many of the migrants who remain, recent weeks have been spent on beaches or in temporarily adapted facilities. As a result, securing accommodation has become one of the authorities’ most urgent problems.
Although local authorities have voiced opposition, the Spanish government has decided that the transfer process will continue.
The escalation of the crisis in Ceuta began in late July, when tens of thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco toward the Spanish enclave in North Africa.
Most of them were returned, but thousands more remained in Spanish territory. This situation has increased pressure on both local authorities and the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Sánchez has been criticized for his handling of the crisis, but he has rejected claims that his government mismanaged the situation. He has acknowledged that the number of arrivals exceeded the capacity of the services responsible.
During a televised appearance on September 14, the prime minister said that the authorities had been overwhelmed by the influx of migrants in Ceuta. According to him, the government aimed to bring the situation under control by the end of the year.
The debate has also focused on whether the Spanish executive had received prior notice of the mass arrivals.
At first, Spanish authorities said they had not been warned about the events that would take place on July 30.
Later, the government made public around 40 communications that had previously been classified. The documents showed that Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI) had reported on July 29 about organized attempts to enter Ceuta by land and sea.
One of the communications also mentioned a call circulated on social media for a mass border crossing the following evening. British media reported that this information had also been passed on to Moroccan intelligence services.
However, Sánchez has rejected the assessment that the communications in question constituted an official warning about the scale of the events that followed.
