Spanish police warn of collapse in Ceuta over mass migrant influx from Morocco: ‘We are overwhelmed’

“We are overwhelmed, and I’m afraid this won’t be over in two days.” “We are one step away from operational collapse.” “It’s worse than the May 2021 migration crisis.” These are statements by National Police officers and Civil Guard members stationed in the Spanish exclave city of Ceuta, bordering Morocco on the northern coast of Africa.

They say they have been facing this situation for a week after a recent Supreme Court ruling barred immediate deportations at the border for migrants who arrive on Spanish territory by sea, like those who have this week been swimming around the breakwater that separates Morocco from Ceuta, one of two small Spanish territories that are the European Union’s only ​land border ‌with Africa. The court said that fast-track pushbacks, so-called “hot returns,” can only be applied to migrants who attempt to climb over the border walls and other physical elements of deterrence.

Thousands of people who made it into Spain this week celebrated by hugging one another, making victory signs and asking for dry clothes. Others continued down the roads, perhaps looking for the nearest shelter. On Thursday, emergency services declared themselves overwhelmed and said they were only providing assistance to the injured.

Ceuta’s local leader, Juan Vivas, has called on Spain’s central government to help, calling the situation “a total humanitarian and social emergency” and asking authorities to declare a national emergency.

Faced with the sudden influx, the Spanish Interior Ministry said Thursday that “it is working with more resources, means, and personnel,” but officers interviewed by EL PAÍS insist the situation “won’t be fixed just by sending more officers.”

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has announced he will travel to the city on Friday “to monitor the situation’s evolution and hold meetings with the autonomous city’s authorities, the Government Delegation and the commanders of the National Police and Civil Guard.” The ministry also sought to dispel doubts about an alleged lack of cooperation from Rabat, as occurred in the May 2021 crisis, and said that “the government of Morocco is cooperating loyally and continuously with Spain and working closely to address this situation. The intervention of Moroccan security forces is stopping the arrival of numerous people trying to reach Ceuta from Moroccan territory.”

Rachid Sbihi is the provincial general secretary in Ceuta of AUGC, the largest Civil Guard union. In a telephone conversation he described what he was seeing from his vehicle: “What we know as the new road, which runs from the breakwater to the city, is completely full of migrants.” Sbihi says that on Thursday morning a dozen officers were unable to control a group of 300 people they were guarding after they had been rescued at sea. “They ran off and there was no way to stop them. We don’t know what to do. The situation is critical.”

Sbihi added that in recent days they have recovered more than 25 bodies of migrants who drowned trying to swim to the city.

For the police union SUP, one of the worst outcomes will be the perception that “irregularly crossing the border ends up having few practical consequences and that, once on national territory, deportation will be extraordinarily difficult to carry out.”

The police union Justicia Policial (Jupol) also calls for reform of immigration legislation and adds that bilateral readmission agreements are needed with countries of origin and transit, starting with Morocco. “Without swift returns or readmission agreements, Spain will continue to suffer this pull effect,” the union said in a statement. Its spokesperson, Ibón Domínguez, said this massive entry will also affect “public safety.”

With additional reporting by Reyes Rincón and Carmen Morán.

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