On the Streets of Ceuta, Tensions Rising Amid Migrant Crisis

CEUTA, Spain—Behind a large banner declaring “SOS Ceuta Invaded,” more than a thousand protesters made their way toward the Moroccan border on Sept. 20, demanding that migrants now living on the Spanish enclave’s beaches, streets, and public spaces be sent back.

Spanish and Ceuta flags rose above the crowd as it moved through the city. Protesters chanted “Ceuta is Spanish,” “I am Spanish,” “Invaders, expulsion!” and “Sánchez to prison,” directing much of their anger at Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez.

The march, organized by the local Federation of Neighborhood Associations, came almost eight weeks after more than 72,000 people, overwhelmingly young men, crossed into Ceuta from Morocco over the course of two days.

Most returned to Morocco within days. Thousands remained.

For a city of about 83,000 people squeezed into a small strip of territory on the North African coast, the migrants’ continued presence has put housing, public spaces, and other local resources under growing strain, fueling anger among residents who say their daily lives have been transformed.

“I’m here because our government is not standing by us,” Ramón, a 56-year-old civil servant, told The Epoch Times as he joined the march. “Our streets are no longer safe, and our children are shut up inside their homes.”

Among those walking toward the border was Daniel, 16, who said the situation had left him feeling that he “can’t do anything” anymore because of the lack of public safety.

His mother, Ana Belén, a 43-year-old health care worker, directed her anger toward the government in Madrid.

“Our own government is betraying us,” she told The Epoch Times. “Its first duty is to defend the homeland, not to put the rights of invaders ahead of our safety and our rights as citizens. We pay our taxes, and this is what they are used for. In a normal world, the members of this government would be tried for treason.”

Sánchez’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Here and there in the crowd, protesters carried the blue and gold flag of the European Union.

Ceuta and Melilla—which sits farther east on the North African coast—form the European Union’s only significant land borders with Africa. Those carrying EU flags said they wanted to emphasize that what was happening in Ceuta was not simply a Spanish problem.

“Ceuta is part of Europe,” several protesters told The Epoch Times, saying they hoped other European governments would pressure Madrid to act.

“We’re carrying EU flags because Pedro Sánchez’s government is doing nothing, so we hope other European countries will step in,” Ramón said.

But appeals to Europe have been accompanied by a sense of abandonment.

“I am Spanish and I am European, and we feel totally abandoned by our government, by Europe, by everyone,” Ana Belén said.

As the march continued toward the border, some of that anger turned toward another target.

Tensions rose when representatives of nongovernmental organizations arrived to observe the demonstration, drawing shouts from some protesters. Several marchers told The Epoch Times they believed migrant-support organizations had contributed to the crisis by advocating policies that make it easier for migrants to remain in Spain.

“These leftist NGOs are heavily funded, and they pressure our government and our politicians to regularize migrants,” Alejandro, a 27-year-old Ceutan resident, told The Epoch Times. “That is the very incentive that brings them here.”

Representatives of the NGOs in Ceuta did not respond to requests for comment.

Safety Fears Dismissed as ‘Subjective’

Much of the anger among those marching on Sunday was also directed at Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who on Sept. 8 described Ceuta residents’ insecurity as “subjective.”

Five days later, Ceuta’s 112 emergency service released figures showing a sharp increase in the number of incidents it had handled since the mass crossings of July 30, the Spanish news agency EFE reported. The number was 532.6 percent higher than during the same period in 2025.

More than 7,000 incidents were handled during that period, while the emergency service received more than 9,200 calls from residents reporting problems across the city. Assaults represented 19.2 percent of the cases and home invasions 11.8 percent, according to the report.

For residents such as José, a retiree who spoke to The Epoch Times, the change is something he is encountering on a daily basis.

“The streets in some neighborhoods are dangerous,” he said. “As for living side by side, the situation is simply untenable. It’s very difficult, really very difficult.”

José said he wants the migrants returned to Morocco, arguing that allowing them to remain only encourages others to attempt the same journey.

Scramble for a Place in the New Camp

The protest came just two days after a chaotic police operation underscored the pressure the migrant influx has placed on the enclave.

Shortly before 7 a.m. on Sept. 18, police began moving thousands of migrants from two beaches toward a newly established tent camp at the port. What began as an orderly procession quickly turned into a rush, as migrants broke into a run in an attempt to reach the facility first.

There was an obvious reason for the scramble: The new camp only had space for 1,700 people, while around 4,500 migrants had been sleeping in makeshift settlements on the beach of El Trampolín alone, according to the city government.

Young men tried to slip through the police cordon and race ahead toward the gates. Riot police responded with batons and fired rubber bullets into the air as they struggled to contain the crowd. Footage of the confrontation quickly spread across social media, drawing millions of views.

“We are truly at our limit,” Paula, a homemaker who lives nearby, told The Epoch Times the following day. “What happened here was horrible.”

The shortage of places at the camp reflects the broader challenge facing the city.

Of the roughly 72,000 people who crossed into Ceuta on July 30 and 31, about 90 percent returned to Morocco within three days, according to Spanish authorities.

Estimates of how many remained have continued to be revised upward. The Spanish government has now put the number at 10,000, while Ceuta’s government says at least 13,000 migrants remain in the enclave, a territory of just seven square miles and roughly 83,000 residents.

And despite the effort to move thousands of people into official accommodations, the improvised settlements that have become part of Ceuta’s landscape have not disappeared.

‘A City of Their Own’

Across parts of the enclave, informal camps have taken root, creating what several residents described to The Epoch Times as “a city of their own.”

Along the beaches of Benítez and El Trampolín, rows of improvised shelters have taken shape just steps from the sea. Cane poles and reeds form the frames of tightly packed huts, while cardboard, sheets of fabric, plastic, and tape are used to close the gaps and provide some protection from the elements.

The camps have developed their own rudimentary economy. Makeshift stalls along the beach sell cigarettes, food, drinks, and other everyday necessities at low prices.

Just steps away from the Benítez settlement, Jalid, 52, runs a small restaurant.

“They stole our daily life, they stole our summer, they took the parks from the children,” he told The Epoch Times. “I don’t call this a crisis. I call it an invasion.”

Inside the camp, however, the men who spoke to The Epoch Times described their time in Ceuta as temporary.

None said they intended to build a life in the enclave. Instead, they viewed Ceuta as a gateway to mainland Europe and the prospect of earning wages far beyond what they could make at home.

Mustapha, 39, said he worked as a pizza maker in Morocco and earned about $400 a month. Yassine, a 22-year-old mechanic, and Ahmed, a 23-year-old plasterer, said they each made roughly $350 a month.

All three said low wages and limited economic prospects had pushed them to make the journey after social media posts about the mass crossing began circulating widely.

What they found in Ceuta was far from the future they hoped to reach.

They described life in the beach camp as a daily struggle marked by poor hygiene, little security, and sometimes only one meal a day. Fights occasionally break out among migrants, they said, often after theft.

Jalid said that many of the men living only a short distance from his restaurant may have come with no intention of causing trouble. But for him, that does little to change what their arrival has meant for the people already living there.

“There are probably plenty of good men among them,” he said, “but all of them are ruthlessly looking after their own interests, without caring what their presence does to the people who live here, or that they got here illegally, by force.”

‘There Will Be a Revolt’

That sense of frustration was echoed throughout Sunday’s march. After seven weeks of living with the consequences of the mass crossings, many protesters said they had grown tired of waiting for the government to resolve the situation.

“We can’t take it anymore, so we’ve come here to the border so that they listen to us,” Miguel Ángel, a salesperson, told The Epoch Times. “But if nothing happens, will we have to take matters into our own hands?”

Ana Belén described a city reaching the end of its patience.

“When someone enters your country illegally, they should be sent back within 48 hours,” she said. “We need measures, not words. Residents are tired of speeches. If nothing happens, there will be a revolt.”

For her, the transformation of Ceuta over the previous weeks could be summed up simply.

“We, the people of Ceuta, are living right now as if we were inside one big refugee camp,” she said.