Ceuta’s political standoff with Madrid has intensified. Juan Jesús Vivas, president of the autonomous city, gave the central government 30 days to address the crisis. Vivas, representing the Partido Popular, criticized what he called the government’s “almost absolute passivity” and warned that, if the situation remains unchanged, he will seek judicial intervention, including direct appeals to the heads of the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court.
The dispute follows the mass arrival of migrants on 30 and 31 July 2026. Estimates of the number of entries differed sharply: the central government put the figure above 80,000, while Ceuta’s authorities said it exceeded 96,000. By early August, the administrations also disagreed over how many people remained in the city. The Interior Ministry estimated about 2,000, while Ceuta’s government put the figure between 8,000 and 11,000. Those differences have shaped the dispute over the scale of the emergency and the response required.
After an extraordinary Council of Government meeting, Vivas accused the executive led by Pedro Sánchez of downplaying the crisis in early August and then failing to take meaningful action. He suggested there may be a hidden motive behind the lack of decisive measures, hinting that La Moncloa was reluctant to restore normality in Ceuta. Vivas said the city would accept no further delays. Its residents, he said, would keep pressing for solutions through all available state institutions, including the Cortes Generales, the judiciary, regional governments, the federation of municipalities and European bodies.
The central government rejects the charge of inaction, describing its approach as intensive work and cooperation with Ceuta. It said more than 12,700 people returned to Morocco between 10 August and 20 October, most adults still in the city were housed in facilities provided by the General State Administration, and the large coastal settlements at Trampolín, Benítez and Guano had been cleared. A later government balance cited in Spanish media put returns since 10 August at 13,101 and listed nearly 8,000 available accommodation places, about 6,100 of them occupied. The disagreement also concerns whether these measures were timely and sufficient.
The dispute escalated after Health Minister Mónica García called on Ceuta’s authorities to provide state facilities for migrants. Vivas rejected her remarks as an attempt to shift responsibility and questioned her right to lecture Ceuta on humanitarian values. He said the crisis had already deeply affected the city’s population, and that residents’ rights must also factor into decisions about migrant accommodation.
Sources within Ceuta’s government say the central administration has proposed several locations for housing migrants. Local authorities have rejected just one site: the Harina factory, owned by the Ministry of Defence, citing its central location and neighborhood opposition. Other proposed sites, including areas near El Trampolín and El Príncipe, have not faced the same resistance. Vivas said the needs of migrants and local residents must be balanced, questioning whether Ceuta’s citizens’ rights are adequately protected.
The pressure extends beyond the coastal settlements. On 23 October, the National Police and Civil Guard carried out an operation in El Príncipe, targeting migrants sheltering in homes, garages and on rooftops. The Government Delegation in Ceuta said 295 people were intercepted, including 60 minors, and that 146 returned voluntarily to Morocco. The operation showed how difficult it is to respond to people dispersed across urban areas, even after the largest encampments have been cleared.
Children remain subject to separate protection and transfer procedures. By late October, Ceuta’s authorities had registered 3,434 unaccompanied minors in the city’s care system. Of these, 181 had been relocated to other autonomous communities under Article 35 of Spain’s Immigration Law, while 114 had gone to mainland Spain following family reunification. Authorities had also sent 63 family-reunification files to Morocco. Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory Ángel Víctor Torres said migrant case processing took about 12 weeks and that returns could not be carried out in the case of children.
Ceuta’s health system remains under strain from the recent influx of irregular migrants. The city’s authorities have repeatedly called for additional resources and immediate returns as local hospitals and services face mounting pressure. For more on the impact of migrant arrivals on Ceuta’s healthcare, see the detailed report on the ongoing strain on Ceuta’s health system.
Ceuta’s position as a Spanish enclave on the North African coast has long made it a focal point for migration issues. The city’s government has often clashed with Madrid over responsibility for managing arrivals and providing adequate support. With the 30-day deadline approaching, the dispute has shifted from public criticism and a formal request for basic-government action toward a potential judicial confrontation. Accommodation, case processing and the protection of minors remain basic challenges.
