Ceuta prepares warehouses to house thousands of unaccompanied minors

According to sources from the Ceuta government, about 900 children, all of whom are Moroccan citizens, are in three reception centers—La Esperanza, Tarajal Nueva Esperanza, and Pinners.

However, the regional government warned that many minors may be in illegal locations in the city, especially in the mountains, or have not yet been found by local police, who are moving teenagers and young people to appropriate shelters.

Authorities believe that the number of minors under protection may change in the coming hours and exceed a thousand, although it was reported that some of these young people voluntarily returned to Morocco with parents who made an illegal crossing from Morocco.

Nevertheless, local police continue to search for these Moroccans, presumably minors, to hand them over to state-run institutions.

The autonomous Spanish city of Ceuta, located in North Africa, recorded the entry of thousands of migrants from Morocco last week. Local authorities estimate the number of arrivals to be close to 60,000, which is almost as many as permanently reside there. Most migrants have already voluntarily returned to Morocco, according to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.

According to the latest official report, at least 71 people died trying to reach Ceuta by swimming since Thursday. This incident prompted a reaction from several European leaders, including countries such as Italy, Denmark, Finland, Czechia, and Sweden, who demanded the suspension of Spain's participation in the Schengen area of free movement, and called on other countries, including Portugal, to strengthen border control for fear that thousands of people who reached Ceuta could enter mainland Spain and use the freedom of movement to travel to the rest of Europe.

According to initial estimates from the Spanish Government, more than 50,000 individuals entered Ceuta illegally, with a large influx occurring on Thursday. However, at least 48,300 people voluntarily returned to Morocco on Friday.

Despite the departure of many, hundreds, or even thousands, of migrants remain present in Ceuta. These individuals are grouped in areas further away from military and police checkpoints, whose patrols have been intensified in the city. They are found on beaches or near the Temporary Reception Center for Migrants (CETI), according to the Lusa agency.

Reports from other media sources indicate that hundreds of people are hidden or taking refuge in the city's hills. Almost all the migrants who remain are from sub-Saharan countries, while those who decided to leave on their own since Friday were Moroccan citizens.

Among the hundreds who persist near the CETI, without access to the reception center—which Ceuta authorities claim is overcrowded—are people from nations such as Senegal, Gambia, Yemen, or Sudan. Many of these individuals already resided in Morocco, in cities like Tangier or Casablanca, and headed to the Ceuta border after obtaining information, either by word of mouth or through the Internet, that it was possible to cross to the Spanish side, as reported by several migrants to Lusa.

All interviewees for Lusa mentioned crossing by swimming on Thursday, taking advantage of the large number of people and low tide, which allowed them to bypass the El Tarajal pontoon, located on the border between Ceuta and Morocco.

Currently, these migrants are on the streets, crowded on sidewalks and on the access road to the CETI, reporting no access to food, drink, or hygiene, but expressing a desire to remain in Ceuta, Spain, and in Europe. Florence, 32, from Senegal, stated: 'I want to live well, like everyone else. And freedom.' There, also a 32-year-old Senegalese man who worked in small trade in Morocco for four years told Lusa: 'I want to live well, like everyone else. And freedom.' Fatima, 28, from Sudan, added: 'There is war in our country.'

Spain mobilized military forces in Ceuta and reinforced the presence of security forces in the city. The Government announced on Friday an agreement with Morocco aimed at the rapid repatriation of people who had entered illegally the previous week. According to reports from the migrants themselves to the media, the closure of shops and other services in the city for two days, which made it impossible to buy food, led tens of thousands to leave the city shortly after entering.

The border near the El Tarajal pontoon was reinforced with the installation of a new half-kilometer pneumatic barrier over the sea on Saturday. Since Thursday, the Spanish police have counted the removal of 71 bodies from this location. In 2025, this point recorded 46 drowning deaths in illegal entry attempts into Ceuta.

Sources in the city cited by the newspaper El Pais assure that spaces with cold storage chambers are being prepared to receive up to 200 corpses, recognizing the possibility of more victims in the waters. To date, the number of bodies removed from the Moroccan side is unknown.

In contrast, local authorities informed that about 1,150 of the people who entered Ceuta since Thursday received medical attention. The city of Ceuta is gradually returning to normalcy, with shops and restaurants reopened since Saturday, tourists filling the central terraces, and vehicle traffic resuming.

However, this recovery occurs under strong police and military surveillance on the streets, and the city's major annual festivities, culminating in the celebration of Africa Virgin Day, scheduled for August 5th and supposed to start on Saturday, have been canceled.

According to Spanish media outlets such as the EFE agency and the newspaper El Pais, thousands of migrants are entering Ceuta on foot through the border outpost.

Border Services Reaction

Agents of the Spanish Civil Guard are merely observing and allowing the crowd crossing the border, surprised by the large number of people crossing it. The crossing takes place near the so-called 'outpost'—a wide stone barrier that separates Ceuta from Morocco and has a fence.

Border Crossing Mechanisms

According to data from EFE and El Pais, hundreds of young people jumped over the unsecured fence, while others walked around the 'outpost' on foot, ending up in Ceuta territory. Security personnel interviewed by EFE stated that they do not know the reason for the mass gathering of youth to cross the Ceuta fence, which coincides with the celebration of the Royal Holiday in Morocco—a national public holiday marking the accession of King Mohammed VI to the throne in 1999.

Declaration of Emergency

Ceuta declared itself to be in a state of 'absolute humanitarian and social emergency' after more than 1500 people who were thrown into the sea in Morocco arrived in this North African enclave over the last ten days. The President of the Autonomous City of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivás, appealed to the Government of Spain to declare a state of 'national emergency' in the territory and to send central government resources to manage the 'migration crisis.'

Scale of Migration Flow

Juan Jesús Vivás stated in interviews with various Spanish media outlets: 'We are in a situation of absolute humanitarian and social emergency that requires consistent action through a unified command ensuring an energetic, decisive, and immediate response.' According to city authorities, between 1500 and 2000 people managed to reach Ceuta in the last ten days after being thrown into the sea in Morocco and swimming towards Spanish waters.

Vivás noted that this is equivalent to 2% of Ceuta's entire population and compared it to what would happen if one million people illegally reached Spain by sea in the last ten days. Although migration pressure in Ceuta is constant, especially in the summer, due to sea conditions and weather, the city president emphasized that there have been 'peaks of special intensity' in the last ten days, which have turned into a 'national emergency.'

Current Situation and Causes

According to local authorities, approximately 700 people are currently in the city's temporary migrant reception centers, which have 512 beds, and another 400 are waiting for a decision on the street. Most arrivals in Ceuta are young people under 30, including hundreds of minors, according to the same sources. The city government and police sources indicate that 30 bodies of people who died attempting to reach Ceuta by swimming have been recovered from the sea this year.

Reports from migrants who arrived in Ceuta over the last ten days, quoted by Spanish media, speak of a 'call effect' caused by a ruling of the Supreme Court of Spain at the beginning of this month. According to this ruling, migrants arriving in the country by sea illegally cannot be immediately returned to the authorities of another state. However, the court ruled that this rule does not apply in the case of the sea, but only to those who enter Spain 'by overcoming established border containment elements, such as fences.'