Tensions surrounding the migrant crisis in Ceuta have escalated sharply, with police intervening to prevent clashes between residents and migrants and protesters attempting to stop the Red Cross from delivering food to hundreds of people sleeping rough.
The unrest comes almost a month after more than 70,000 migrants crossed into the Spanish North African enclave from neighbouring Morocco during the chaotic mass arrivals of 30 and 31 July. More than 90% subsequently returned to Morocco, but several thousand remain in Ceuta while the authorities attempt to identify them and determine their legal status.
Until this week, one of the few aspects of the crisis that had continued relatively smoothly was the distribution of food. Around 4,000 meals have been handed out each day, helping to prevent hunger among migrants who remain without adequate accommodation.
That operation has now itself become a focus of confrontation.
On Thursday, dozens of residents staged a sit-in near El Trampolín beach, temporarily preventing Red Cross vehicles from reaching an area where migrants have been sleeping. Some protesters waved Spanish flags and shouted ‘They should leave’ and ‘Out with the Red Cross’.
Police eventually dispersed the demonstrators, while later disturbances saw protesters enter an area occupied by migrants and some of their belongings set on fire. Riot police intervened amid fears of direct confrontations.
The incidents followed further tension on Wednesday night, when police used tear gas to keep protesters and migrants apart.
Red Cross volunteers involved in distributing food are also reported to have become increasingly concerned for their safety, prompting warnings from the Spanish government that humanitarian workers must not become targets of intimidation.
Government appeals for an end to violence
Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Víctor Torres, who is heading the newly established single command coordinating the government’s response to the crisis, appealed to political parties and residents to condemn violence regardless of where it comes from. ALSO READ: Sánchez convenes National Security Council as government steps up response to Ceuta migrant crisis.
Torres said he and Ceuta’s People’s Party (PP) president, Juan Jesús Vivas, had agreed on a joint appeal for calm on Wednesday.
‘Yesterday Vivas and I agreed on an urgent message against violence. It would be good if everyone joined it today,’ Torres told the Spanish Congress.
He also condemned attacks or intimidation directed at migrants, Muslim residents of Ceuta, journalists and humanitarian workers.
‘You cannot attack Muslim Ceutans, just as you cannot attack anyone for being an immigrant,’ he said.
Torres added: ‘It cannot be that Red Cross volunteers who are from Ceuta feel threatened for delivering food on El Trampolín beach and want to give up doing that voluntary work. Nor can journalists be attacked. Those of us in public office carry responsibilities, but violence against any public representative is not acceptable.’
The PP, however, accused the government of failing to restore security.
‘Ceuta does not need lessons in patience and co-existence. We have spent decades giving the rest of Spain those kinds of lessons,’ PP senator Cristina Díaz said. ‘What we need is a government that guarantees security, regains control and restores normality for all Ceutans.’
Soldiers attacked as tensions rise
The deterioration in public order has also followed an incident involving four Spanish soldiers during the early hours of Thursday.
According to police, a military vehicle was surrounded by a group of around 70 migrants, who threw stones and other objects at it. The soldiers left the scene and requested police assistance.
Twelve Moroccan nationals were subsequently detained and one soldier suffered minor injuries after being hit by a stone. The reason for the attack remained unclear.
Ceuta’s finance councillor, Kissy Chandiramani, said tensions in the city were extremely high because residents felt they had been left without an adequate response from central government.
She nevertheless appealed for calm, arguing that while residents had every right to demonstrate, increasing hostility would not solve the crisis.
Ceuta covers just 18 square kilometres, and demonstrations have become increasingly frequent amid complaints from residents about security, sanitation and the continued presence of thousands of migrants sleeping outdoors.
Estimates of how many people remain vary considerably. The Spanish government puts the figure at between 3,500 and 7,000, while Ceuta’s authorities believe there may be at least 10,000.
Search for emergency accommodation
Finding somewhere suitable to house those remaining in Ceuta has become one of the biggest obstacles facing the authorities.
The government argues that migrants cannot simply be returned en masse to Morocco. Each person must first be identified and their individual circumstances established, including whether they are entitled to seek asylum or can legally be deported. Unaccompanied minors are subject to additional protections.
Torres said government technicians had inspected locations proposed by the Ceuta authorities near El Tarajal, close to the Moroccan border. However, he said the sites would require months of work because they currently lack basic infrastructure including electricity and plumbing.
The dilemma has become increasingly difficult: residents want migrants removed from beaches and public areas, but attempts to establish temporary accommodation closer to residential neighbourhoods have themselves encountered opposition.
The government is therefore seeking additional sites where identification procedures can be carried out. Space was found last week for around 1,800 people, but considerably greater capacity is required. ALSO READ: Ceuta police clear migrants from Trampolín beach and move them to temporary shelters.
The Interior Ministry is also sending additional personnel to help with identification procedures, while the government has approved €25 million in additional funding for the care of unaccompanied minors.
A new meeting of the government’s single command was due to take place on Friday, chaired from La Moncloa by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, with further decisions on accommodation and processing facilities expected.
‘I am not going to deceive people by saying they can be returned tomorrow when I know that is false,’ Torres said. ‘Normality will be restored, but I cannot say when.’
Political battle intensifies
The crisis is meanwhile becoming an increasingly bitter political issue ahead of Spain’s 2027 electoral cycle.
The PP and far-right Vox party have strongly criticised Sánchez’s handling of the situation, accusing the government of reacting too slowly to the July influx and failing to restore order.
PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said on Thursday that Ceuta’s residents had been dealing with the consequences ‘alone for a month’.
‘Nothing was done to prevent the invasion … and nothing is being done to stop the public-order crisis that is worsening every day,’ he wrote on X.
Former PP prime minister José María Aznar also visited Ceuta this week and accused the government of weakness, including in its dealings with Morocco.
The government rejects suggestions that there is evidence Morocco deliberately orchestrated the July influx. Ministers instead argue that improved relations between Madrid and Rabat helped ensure that more than 90% of those who initially entered Ceuta returned to Morocco relatively quickly.
Justice Minister Félix Bolaños told lawmakers that the authorities were working ‘without rest’ to restore normality.
The government has also faced criticism over Sánchez continuing his summer holiday during the crisis and not convening the National Security Council to address the situation until after returning earlier this week.
Concern over growing hostility
Behind the political confrontation, however, there is increasing concern within the government about the deterioration in the atmosphere on the streets and online.
Ministers are reportedly particularly worried by xenophobic and racist messages circulating on social media and by attempts to encourage people to confront migrants directly.
The obstruction of Red Cross food deliveries has caused particular alarm. Officials believe the daily distribution of thousands of meals has played an important role in preventing a humanitarian emergency from developing into wider public disorder.
The contrast with Ceuta’s previous major migration crisis in 2021 has also been noted. During that episode, around 10,000 people entered the enclave, but local facilities were made available relatively quickly and there was considerably less organised opposition from residents.
This time, the government faces a much more difficult combination of legal, logistical and political pressures. It cannot carry out indiscriminate mass expulsions, transferring migrants to mainland Spain is politically contentious, suitable temporary accommodation in Ceuta remains scarce, and growing protests are now complicating even the distribution of food.
With tensions increasing rather than subsiding, Friday’s meeting chaired by Sánchez was expected to focus on finding additional accommodation and accelerating the identification of those who remain – while attempting to prevent an already difficult migration crisis from developing into a wider breakdown of public order.
ALSO READ: Five arrests as police bust migrant smuggling ring charging €9,000 from Ceuta to mainland Spain.
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VIDEO | El grupo de manifestantes que esta tarde ha impedido la entrada de un camión de Cruz Roja en la playa del Trampolín, en Ceuta, con comida para los migrantes, ha incendiado dos sombrillas de paja en otro pequeño campamento junto a otra playa adyacente y contigua a la… pic.twitter.com/al0jzgxFij
— EFE Noticias (@EFEnoticias) August 27, 2026
🚩 En Benítez, los manifestantes impiden el paso de los camiones de Cruz Roja con comida para los inmigrantes en el Trampolín#Ceuta #FronteraSur #Inmigración pic.twitter.com/zdnWrNl8E6
— El Faro de Ceuta (@ElFarodeCeuta) August 27, 2026
🔴 ÚLTIMA HORA
— RTVE Noticias (@rtvenoticias) August 27, 2026
Los manifestantes en Ceuta tratan de bloquear a esta hora el paso del camión que transporta la comida que, como cada tarde, la Cruz Roja reparte a los migrantes.#Canal24Horas pic.twitter.com/8eZdjJHCUS
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