Around 30,000 people joined a Madrid march organised alongside Mujeres Caballas, according to the Government Delegation. The group called for urgent measures in Ceuta and the return to Morocco of people in an irregular situation.
Police repeatedly moved the march’s leading banner forward to make room for the crowd gathering at Atocha. Around 30,000 people took part in the Madrid demonstration on 25 October, according to the Government Delegation. Participants arrived from Ceuta and other parts of Spain. The march began at 11:30 and proceeded from the Glorieta de Atocha towards the Congress of Deputies.
The protest was organised by Mujeres Caballas, a civic platform representing women and families in Ceuta. Its members called on the Government to act urgently over the situation in the city. They said daily life had been disrupted since the mass arrival of migrants from Morocco in late July. Reports put the influx at around 80,000 people. Ceuta president Juan Jesús Vivas estimated that 15,000 migrants remained in the city, equivalent to about 20% of its usual population.
The turnout exceeded expectations.
Organisers described the effects on residents, including pressure on healthcare services and concern among older people. They also cited worries about sexual assaults and street fights. State security forces, they said, were exhausted. These were concerns raised by the movement at the demonstration.
The march began at 11:30 at plaza del Emperador Carlos V, commonly known as the glorieta de Atocha. As the assembly grew, police moved its front line about 25 metres several times before the official start. By then, the banner had advanced close to 100 metres along the route. The march continued to the Plaza de las Cortes, near the Congress of Deputies, where organisers read the manifesto.
Ceuta residents marched behind it, while thousands of people from Madrid and elsewhere in Spain lined the route to show support. Demonstrators called for recognition of Ceuta’s place in Spain and urged the Government to take responsibility for the city. Slogans included “Ceuta no se vende, Ceuta se defiende” (“Ceuta is not for sale; Ceuta defends itself”) and “Yo soy español.”
Mujeres Caballas spokesperson Maxi Lacasa said the group had travelled to Madrid after three months of disruption. She called for measures to make returns to Morocco possible for people in an irregular situation and said the movement wanted residents to regain a sense of normality. The group’s manifesto called for a stronger border and returns for migrants in an irregular situation. It also sought reform of Spain’s immigration legislation. Addressed to the Spanish Government, the Cortes Generales and other competent administrations, the manifesto called for measures to begin within a maximum of 30 days.
Ceuta president Juan Jesús Vivas attended and demonstrators repeatedly cheered him. He said he would return to the city ready to continue the fight. Hundreds also gathered outside the Government Delegation’s headquarters in Ceuta to support the Madrid march. Former PP leader Esperanza Aguirre attended the Madrid demonstration, saying Ceuta and Vivas needed support and accusing Pedro Sánchez of abandoning them.
PSOE deputy Melchor León called for a Real Decreto to expel people who are in Spain illegally. That was a demand voiced at the protest; the source material does not report that such a decree has been adopted.
A separate dispute over migration policy involved Badalona mayor Xavier García Albiol’s criticism of monthly aid in a Vitoria eviction case, covered in an earlier report.
In its manifesto, Mujeres Caballas said mothers should not have to choose between their children’s freedom and their safety. The group called for urgent government action, including returns to Morocco for people in an irregular situation. It also called for steps to restore security and ordinary movement in Ceuta.
