Algerian Radio
The authorities of the Spanish city of Ceuta have called on their country's government to declare a state of emergency following an unprecedented wave of irregular migration flows across the coasts opposite Morocco, in a development that has placed Madrid under compounding security, legal, and humanitarian pressure.
According to Spanish media reports today, Thursday, the President of the Government of Ceuta, Juan Vivas, urged treating the situation as an unprecedented emergency in light of the continuous wave of migrant arrivals from the coasts opposite Morocco. The surge has placed the city under mounting pressure that exceeds its capacity for reception and management, saddling Spanish authorities with escalating security, humanitarian, and administrative burdens.
This move comes after nearly two thousand migrants managed to reach the city by swimming over the past two weeks, marking the largest wave Spanish Ceuta has witnessed since the May 2021 crisis. This has intensified pressure on Spanish authorities, who find themselves facing an uninterrupted inflow of arrivals despite deploying advanced surveillance equipment—including drones, thermal cameras, and laser systems—in a scene reflecting continuous departures from the coasts opposite Morocco without succeeding in halting cross-border attempts.
With the rising number of arrivals, reception centers have exceeded their capacity. The Temporary Immigrant Stay Center (CETI), designed to hold 512 people, is currently accommodating at least 727 individuals, mostly from Morocco. Meanwhile, others were forced to set up temporary encampments using blankets, plastic sheeting, and cardboard around the center's perimeter, depicting the scale of the crisis facing the Spanish city.
The pressure has not been limited to shelter facilities; it has extended to the minor protection system following the arrival of around 500 minors. This forced Spanish authorities to mobilize exceptional resources alongside recording the arrival of several women, further complicating reception and care operations.
The mounting calls to declare a state of emergency reflect the depth of the dilemma facing Spain amid the ongoing flow of migrants via the coasts opposite Morocco. The resulting increase in security, administrative, and humanitarian pressures has prompted local authorities to demand extraordinary intervention from the central government to contain the crisis.
