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🇪🇸 Spain /Conflict & Security

Ceuta’s patience holds Spain’s government together

From La Vanguardia · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Ongoing story
  • Residents of Ceuta describe fear and exhaustion as hundreds of Moroccan migrants remain in makeshift conditions and return procedures continue slowly.
  • Many residents want rapid returns but oppose state-run accommodation, fearing it would prolong migrants’ stay, while also expressing concern for their humanitarian situation.
  • The article portrays Ceuta’s calm as fragile, amid complaints about inadequate resources and worries that the crisis could last for months.

At nine on a Saturday morning, the Yunes fish stalls in Ceuta’s central market are serving far fewer customers than usual. “Naturally, older people no longer go out to shop or take walks in the afternoon,” one vendor says.

Naturally, older people no longer go out to shop or take walks in the afternoon.

· Unnamed fish-stall vendorThe vendor describes how fear and disruption have changed daily life in Ceuta.

Fátima, a hospital porter at the city’s only hospital, says her 20-year-old daughter does not go out after dark because she is afraid. In Ceuta, she says, “life used to happen in the streets.” At a Mercadona in the Almadraba district, soldiers stand at the doors and shoppers fill their carts. A Muslim Ceuta couple offers a bleak warning: “This is moving slowly. When the cold arrives, they will not be able to sleep outdoors, and hunger is very bad.”

Ceuta, the so-called gateway to the Mediterranean, has 83,000 residents, 43% of them Muslim. The city sits a short bus ride from the Tarajal border crossing, where the scene is calm. Along the route, however, passengers can see the crowded Lobo Colmenar holding centre. Dozens of young Moroccans who arrived in July camp along its edges, surviving as best they can.

This is moving slowly. When the cold arrives, they will not be able to sleep outdoors, and hunger is very bad.

· Unnamed Muslim Ceuta residentThe resident warns about the consequences of prolonged returns and migrants remaining outdoors.

The city’s dominant view calls for migrants to be returned quickly. Many residents oppose shelters, fearing that accommodation would make their stay permanent. Yet few are indifferent to the desire for a better future. The tension is sharpened by the belief among many locals that the young men are undesirable. Carmen, a market customer, questions their asylum claims because she says Morocco is not at war. Musa, a Muslim spice seller, says the “good” Moroccans returned home after seeing the situation, leaving the “bad” ones behind.

There is no war or anything like that in Morocco, so it is not clear why they are seeking asylum. We have humanity, but what about the rights of our minors?

· CarmenA market customer explains her concerns about asylum claims and local children’s rights.

The question now is how long Ceuta’s apparent calm can last if returns take months. An editorial in El Pueblo de Ceuta calls the continuing lack of resources “shameful.” One civil servant, speaking anonymously, says she cannot imagine the situation continuing beyond three months, adding that some Ceuta residents cannot afford three meals a day.

The good ones returned to Morocco after seeing the situation, and the bad ones stayed.

· MusaA Muslim spice seller voices a harsh view held by some residents about the migrants remaining in Ceuta.
About this summary

Originally published by La Vanguardia in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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