Shouts of "Ceuta no es un CETI" rang through the port district as more than a hundred residents marched toward the construction site of the city’s new migrant camp. Spanish and Ceuta flags waved above the crowd as police and workers faced a steady stream of jeers and accusations. The government’s decision to build the facility just fifteen minutes from established neighborhoods has drawn strong local resistance.
The dispute centers on the rapid change of two large public plots in the port’s industrial zone. Excavators and cranes have worked day and night. One site is nearly ready to hold up to 1,000 migrants in white tents; the other, larger area is still being prepared. Both are surrounded by warehouses and fuel tanks, with the nearest shops and supermarkets more than a kilometer away. Still, the sites’ proximity to Parques de Ceuta and Junta Obras del Puerto, areas with higher average incomes than those near previous migrant centers, has fueled residents’ anger.
Alongside the port camp, construction of another migrant facility for around 900 people is underway in Los Rosales, where local residents have also protested.
Local associations, led by Raúl Fernández of Vecinos del Puerto, have repeatedly voiced their opposition. Their basic concerns are the camp’s proximity to schools and businesses, along with fears of further disruption. "We refuse to accept this construction. We do not want them here," Fernández said, reflecting the hardening mood. After meetings with city officials, residents were told that the government’s emergency powers left local authorities unable to intervene.
The port’s governing board rejected the project by a wide margin, with 11 votes against and 4 in favor, but the central government moved forward anyway. Residents have staged daily protests, though turnout is dropping as fatigue sets in. Many doubt the official claim that the camp is temporary, even though the contract specifies a December 31 deadline with no extension. Fernández and others point to past problems at other migrant centers and call for a different solution: the immediate return of migrants to Morocco.
Meanwhile, migrants waiting outside overcrowded centers in Ceuta have greeted news of the new facility with cautious hope. Many have spent weeks in makeshift camps, relying on help from locals in neighborhoods such as El Príncipe. For them, the chance of a place in the new tents, but remote, offers some relief. The Ministry of Inclusion has not yet said which groups will be assigned to the new site, but for those sleeping rough, any option is better than none.
Reuters reports that the wave of protests in Ceuta is part of a broader migration crisis that escalated after a mass border crossing in July, when at least 72,000 people entered the enclave. The surge has brought almost daily demonstrations and heightened tensions between local and central authorities.
Ceuta’s experience is not unique. As reported earlier, similar protests have broken out in other districts where new migrant centers have appeared near schools and residential areas. The city remains divided between those who see migrants as a threat and those who offer support, with each new facility deepening the split.
Despite the government’s insistence that the port camp is temporary, the situation on the ground is more complicated. The site’s isolation may reduce immediate friction with residents, but it also signals a move to keep migration out of public view and away from central neighborhoods. The lack of local input and the speed of construction have left many feeling sidelined. The episode shows the limits of local democracy when national authorities use emergency powers, and the widening gap between policy decisions and daily life in border communities. Ceuta’s port district is now a test case for how Spain handles migration pressures and how much say residents have when the state decides to act.
