Hundreds of Ceuta residents blocked Red Cross vehicles carrying food to illegal migrants on Thursday, 27 August, before pushing through police lines, dismantling makeshift settlements and setting migrant encampments on fire, as anger over the thousands who remain in the Spanish enclave after July’s mass invasion spilled into a third consecutive day of unrest.
The confrontation began near Benítez beach, where residents sat across the road for more than two hours to prevent Red Cross vehicles from reaching El Trampolín, one of the principal improvised migrant camps. Protesters carrying Spanish and Ceuta flags demanded the illegal migrants’ removal, chanting ‘Ceuta no se vende, Ceuta se defiende’ (‘Ceuta is not for sale; Ceuta must be defended’), one of the main slogans of the current protests. Footage on social media also show group of illegal migrants throwing rocks at protestors.
The crowd then moved towards the settlements carrying a giant Spanish flag, breached the police cordon and entered the beach area. The illegal migrants fled as their makeshift shelters were torn apart and thrown into the sea, similarly to what had happened overnight. Angry locals also set fire to belongings left behind, as well as two beach parasols.
Police ultimately charged the crowd of residents, preventing direct clashes between the two groups.
By 10pm, the unrest had not ended. El Faro de Ceuta reported that the city centre had been blocked and demonstrators were gathering around Gran Vía. Footage posted on X by Ceuta resident Salva Ortega showed a large crowd singing ‘El Novio de la Muerte’, a song closely associated with the Spanish Legion, which has deep historical ties to Ceuta.
The developments followed a similarly violent night. At around 5.30am in Benzú, a group of between 30 and 40 illegal migrants surrounded a vehicle carrying four Spanish soldiers travelling to a surveillance point and attacked it with large stones. The soldiers abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot while being pursued and continued to be pelted with stones, suffering injuries requiring treatment. Twelve Moroccan nationals were arrested.
That attack itself underlines the fact that authorities, despite the Pedro Sánchez government’s claims over the past month, have lost control over what is happening in the Spanish enclave after more than 80,000 illegal migrants entered at the end of July. Thousands remained, turning everyday life for the enclave’s 84,000 residents into a nightmare.
While authorities struggle with overcapacity, the security situation continues to deteriorate. Prosecutor General Teresa Peramato said on Thursday that 16 sexual assaults involving 17 victims had been registered during the crisis, alongside increases in robberies and offences involving resistance or attacks against police. Most of the rape victims were minors, many of whom had themselves arrived during the mass invasion.
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