Ceuta: Fear grips residents as rejected youths express anger and disappointment

Young men who dreamed of reaching Spain are now returning to their homes in Ceuta's El Príncipe neighborhood, their journey marked by police escorts and palpable disappointment. Social media, particularly TikTok, continues to broadcast images of escapes and unrest, but offers little solace to these youths.

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You can't fight your maktoub (destiny).

In El Príncipe, frustration manifests as anger, with young people engaging in symbolic boxing matches and punching the air. The disappointment stems from a failed attempt to cross the border, a gamble they viewed as a chance for a better life. Some, like Ayoub, whose legs are scarred from rocks, express a sense of fatalism, stating, "You can't fight your maktoub (destiny)."

The situation has overwhelmed morgues, with two temporary facilities in an old military hospital filled with bodies. Among the minors, estimated at around 500, who cannot be repatriated, is a three-month-old baby found alone in a plastic boat. Official estimates suggest that out of 60,000 migrants who managed to cross the border, 3,000 are still unaccounted for, with fears they may be hiding in makeshift boats or rock crevices.

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But people are afraid, we cannot deny it.

Life in Ceuta is slowly returning to normal, but a palpable fear lingers among residents. Nicola Cecchi Bisoni, a local official, notes that years of work to develop Ceuta into a high-end tourist destination, including securing European funds, now seem lost. He describes the border as one with the "greatest inequality in the world," citing a vast salary difference between Ceuta and Morocco, making it difficult to deter migration.

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For three years we have worked to make Ceuta a high-end tourist center; we have obtained European funds and prepared an interesting program. Now everything is lost.

Despite the challenges, some residents, like firefighter Jaime Diaz, show resilience and community spirit. While acknowledging the unprecedented scale of this migration wave, Diaz states that Ceuta's residents are prepared to face such situations. However, he also voices a sense of abandonment, feeling that Madrid considers Ceuta an "extreme periphery."

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Ours is the border with the greatest inequality in the world, on this side salaries of 1,500 euros, on that side 280. How do you stop them? Not even the one between Mexico and the US is like that. But this was the biggest wave of migrants ever.