Spanish protesters and migrants clashed with police and each other in Ceuta, one month after a horde of over 70,000 Moroccan migrants abruptly swarmed the small Spanish enclave.
Footage of the mass of migrants storming the territory of just 84,000 people sparked a national crisis, and Madrid’s socialist government has struggled to contain it. The vast majority of the migrants left soon after arriving, upon finding a lack of transportation to Europe and a lack of accommodations, but thousands remain. Madrid claims 7,000 still remain, while Ceuta officials put the number closer to 10,000.
Tensions boiled over this week when crowds of Spanish locals began protesting, then rioting, over the migrant camps, while migrants began attacking police. The enclave’s small police force was quickly overwhelmed and unable to bring the protesters or migrants under control.
A police spokesperson said on Thursday that a military vehicle carrying four soldiers was “ambushed” by a mob of about 70 migrants, who pelted it with stones and other objects, AFP reported.
The local population took matters into their own hands, storming and ransacking a migrant camp. Video showed locals draped in Spanish flags, shouting anti-migrant slogans, and singing Spanish songs, torching the camp and throwing migrants’ belongings in the Mediterranean or into bonfires. The migrants retreated to a pier where they were guarded by police.
Protesters also turned their ire against the Red Cross, which has been assisting the migrants. They attempted to stop Red Cross vehicles from reaching migrants on the beach and have been demanding the aid group depart the area.
Two police unions, the Sindicato Unificado de Policia and Confederacion Espanola de Policia, requested extensive reinforcements from the mainland. They said that officers had been working without rest since Monday and were enduring “extreme physical and mental exhaustion.”
The socialist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been trashed by the opposition over the crisis, who accuse them of failing to act. Ceuta’s government has joined this chorus of criticism — Ceuta finance councilor Kissy Chandiramani told Spanish radio SER that there’s been “no response” from Madrid one month in, adding that residents “feel abandoned.”
Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the opposition People’s Party, has led the charge against Sanchez’s government, criticizing him again on Thursday after the ambush of the military vehicle.
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“Tonight’s assault on the military is yet more proof that the situation is escalating and is unsustainable, and that without resources, clear orders, and an adequate legal framework, those who protect Ceuta cannot do their jobs,” he wrote in a post on X.
“What is the Government waiting for? For a tragedy to occur? Or worse, to exploit it politically?” Feijoo said.
