Ceuta president proposes confining migrants pending expulsion amid border crisis

The president of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, proposed on Monday confining migrants arriving in the Spanish North African enclave to an internment center while their expulsion procedures are processed. This suggestion comes in the wake of a significant migratory crisis at the end of July.

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A space must be enabled to act as a center for the internment of foreigners, where these people can be admitted and remain confined.

Around 72,000 migrants arrived in Ceuta in the final days of July, primarily by sea or on foot. Spanish authorities report that approximately 70,000 of them have already been returned to neighboring Morocco. However, a considerable number of migrants remain in the streets of the small autonomous city, creating a point of contention between the national left-wing government and Vivas's local conservative administration.

"A space must be enabled to act as a center for the internment of foreigners, where these people can be admitted and remain confined," Vivas stated at a press conference, describing the situation as "unsustainable." He added that their "freedom of movement will be restricted, for objective and perfectly justified reasons, until the expulsion files are processed and completed."

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Their freedom of movement will be restricted, for objective and perfectly justified reasons, until the expulsion files are processed and completed.

Vivas also called for a state-led plan to restore normalcy to Ceuta, where he estimates between 8,000 and 11,000 migrants are currently present. He praised a Sunday demonstration, which organizers claimed drew 10,000 people, demanding solutions to the migration crisis. Police, however, estimated the crowd at 5,000 in the city of 84,000 inhabitants.

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The situation in the enclave is unsustainable.

Meanwhile, Spanish Minister of Territorial Policy Ángel Víctor Torres did not directly address Vivas's proposal. He emphasized the importance of prioritizing family reunification for unaccompanied minors who arrived in Ceuta, without mentioning expulsions. Torres offered a message of encouragement to the local population, acknowledging their difficult situation and assuring that security forces had been reinforced in the enclave.

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It is important to prioritize family reunification for the minor migrants who arrived in Ceuta.