Ceuta’s migration crisis has sparked an open confrontation within the PSOE, with deputies Melchor León and Sebastián Guerrero demanding urgent action from the central government. Both represent the PSOE in the Ceuta Assembly and say the city’s interests must come before party discipline. They want a state of alarm in Ceuta and a national emergency structure to improve resource management. They are also calling for a permanent Frontex deployment at the border.
The dispute follows the mass arrival from Morocco on 30 and 31 July 2026, whose scale remains contested. Estimates reported by Spanish authorities and media range from about 49,000 entries to more than 96,000, with the central government and Ceuta’s authorities citing different totals. The episode prompted calls for stronger state coordination and expanded accommodation, alongside faster returns.
León and Guerrero say the government’s approach lacks the necessary force and clarity. At a press appearance, León criticized the executive led by Pedro Sánchez for failing to offer concrete solutions, saying ministerial visits had brought little more than promises. He singled out Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, urging him to honour his commitment to return migrants who entered Ceuta irregularly at the end of July. León warned that if the minister failed to act or address the issue publicly, he should resign.
The government has defended its response by pointing to measures already in place. It said it had established a “Situation of National Security Interest” to coordinate state action on security and accommodation, while also covering evacuations, health screening and returns. The structure is distinct from the state of alarm sought by the deputies. At a 20 October briefing, Migration Minister Elma Saiz said 12,705 people had returned to Morocco between 10 August and 19 October. The government also reported making 7,477 temporary accommodation places available.
The deputies have drawn attention to pressure on Ceuta’s healthcare system, which they describe as inadequate for the situation. The government’s figures offer another view of services under strain: Saiz said the city had 211 hospital beds, with 100 occupied at the time of the update, including 20 by migrants. Authorities also reported deploying 5,237 officers and conducting 11,375 surveillance and information patrols. The figures show the scale of the response, but also point to large pressure on hospital capacity.
León and Guerrero have urged the government to seek European assistance, arguing that Ceuta needs every available resource to meet its humanitarian and health needs, as well as security demands. Spain formally requested emergency funding from the European Commission on 25 August. The Commission said it was treating the request as a priority and called for swift returns. Frontex data cited in October showed irregular immigration into Spain up 26% in the first nine months of 2026, while detections across the European Union fell by almost a third. The Western Mediterranean route recorded about 18,300 detections from January through September, excluding the exceptional July arrivals in Ceuta.
Both deputies say their stance reflects a commitment to Ceuta’s welfare, not a rejection of the PSOE. They have said they remain proud of their party affiliation and argue that transparency and decisive action are impressive. Guerrero described the city as disordered and overwhelmed, saying it needed answers.
Their criticism also reaches the local government led by Juan Jesús Vivas, particularly over unaccompanied foreign minors living on the streets. León has placed responsibility on the autonomous administration and urged it to act decisively in an area within its remit. The central government reported that 3,331 minors remained in Ceuta’s protection system. Of those, 107 had been transferred to mainland Spain through family-reunification procedures, while 181 had moved to other autonomous communities under Article 35 of Spain’s Immigration Act. The government also said 63 cases involving minors had been referred to Morocco.
León has repeatedly called for a state of alarm to strengthen control of the crisis and a national emergency structure to simplify the response to health and humanitarian needs, alongside security requirements. He has also advocated sending Spain’s Military Emergencies Unit (UME) to help identify people and process protection requests, as well as stationing Frontex at the border permanently. He set out these demands in a letter to the prime minister and repeated them in public. The government says operations have cleared informal gathering sites at Trampolín and Guano beaches, in Poblados Regulares, around the Tarajal esplanade and warehouses, and near the Temporary Immigrant Accommodation Centre.
The deputies’ decision to represent the PSOE directly on the boards of public companies in Ceuta has deepened tensions with the local party leadership, which referred the matter to federal bodies. Guerrero defended the move as necessary for parliamentary oversight of public enterprises, saying the roles are unpaid and not motivated by personal gain.
The latest escalation follows earlier internal disputes within the PSOE in Ceuta. Melchor León recently called for the resignation of the government’s delegate in the city, exposing deeper divisions within the party amid the migration crisis. Details are in the report on León's demand for the delegate's resignation.
The dispute also involves Ceuta’s autonomous government and the basic administration. Vivas has sought additional resources to speed the return of minors and called the situation “unsustainable”; he has taken the matter to Spain’s Supreme Court. The central government, meanwhile, says thousands of people have returned to Morocco and state resources have been mobilized. In a separate strand, PSOE deputy Melchor León has questioned the government’s handling of the crisis while defending the National Intelligence Centre’s role in the judicial investigation into the July arrivals. He described the CNI as “completely apolitical.” Judge Tardón is overseeing the investigation into the events of 30 and 31 July.
Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the North African coast, faces migration pressure because of its proximity to Morocco. Disagreement over emergency powers and a permanent Frontex presence reflects a wider dispute about how national, local and European institutions should share responsibility. The scale of the July arrivals remains contested, and political and judicial scrutiny of the response continues to test that balance.
