Residents of Ceuta face growing insecurity and fear 11 days after a massive migration border entry into the Spanish enclave from Morocco on July 30. Local residents told newspaper LA RAZÓN that the autonomous city remains in a bad state, with citizens fearing everything from arson to another mass avalanche at the border.
Thousands of local citizens have taken to the streets in protest, chanting that Ceuta is not for sale, calling for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to resign, and shouting that Ceuta will not surrender. Meanwhile, emergency authorities confirmed the discovery of another corpse in the area, raising the total death toll from the mass entry to 83.
Neighborhood leaders emphasized that the feeling of danger on public roads is one of the primary issues troubling local communities. Francisco García Segado, president of the Provincial Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Ceuta (FPAV), stated that it is rare to find anyone not carrying a knife in their hands as citizens attempt to maintain their daily routines.
Break-Ins and Street Violence
According to FPAV estimates, between 2,500 and 3,500 foreign nationals remain in Ceuta after entering irregularly and refusing to return to Morocco. The president of Ceuta places the number of remaining migrants much higher, estimating between 8,000 and 11,000 people.
García Segado reported that migrants remaining in the enclave have tried to break into uninhabited and abandoned houses to squat them. He noted that residents have woken up in recent days to find door locks that individuals had attempted to force open.
Local streets have also seen frequent clothing thefts and smashed vehicle windows as perpetrators break into parked cars to steal valuable items. García Segado expressed conviction that many of these incidents represent deliberate reprisals against residents who closed their businesses or refused to serve migrants in local hospitality establishments.
Citizens are also witnessing daily physical violence among migrants themselves, who clash violently in public over access to better places to sleep. The unrest has also highlighted stories of vulnerable individuals seeking refuge in the enclave, including women fleeing domestic nightmare situations such as attempted abuse by family members.
Calls for Military Assistance
García Segado stated that the only effective resolution is for the migrants to return to Morocco, though he noted that they prefer to die before returning. He explained that their goal is to cross into mainland Spain, driven by social media messages depicting a better life physically close to the enclave.
The neighborhood leader argued that deploying military forces would provide the most effective assistance, complaining that soldiers are currently held back. He stated that successive neighborhood conflicts exceed the capacity of law enforcement forces to restore order, forcing some property owners to sleep inside their own commercial premises to prevent break-ins and property damage.
Public sanitation has also collapsed under the strain, forcing the autonomous city government to hire an additional cleaning firm to assist the existing public contractor, whose staff is overwhelmed by the massive volume of accumulated trash.
García Segado lamented that the city wakes up filthy every morning and warned of resident fears that campfires built around illegal encampments could trigger accidental fires during a period of maximum fire alert. He added that the ongoing war scenario leaves citizens in constant fear that another mass migration entry will occur soon.
