More than 4,000 migrants remain on the streets of Ceuta as authorities work to expand emergency accommodation. Around 8,300 people are already housed in centres across the autonomous city. The greatest pressure is around the port camp, which can hold 1,700 people and began its second day of operation on Sunday.
The emergency port facility began receiving migrants on 18 September, after Spanish police moved people away from the Tramolin and Benitez beaches. BBC and Euronews reports put its capacity at about 1,700 people, a limit it reached quickly. Reuters also reported the figure. Workers are preparing more places, but the facility is intended for adults. Some young people who say they are minors remain there while officials check their identities and ages. Zaid is 17 and says the process is unfinished. If his age is confirmed, he will move to a specialised facility and come under Ceuta's protection.
The Government says it has identified 2,048 minors and estimates that another 700 to 1,000 are still waiting. That unresolved group lies basic to the accommodation problem: people who may need child protection are staying in a facility built for adults.
The port shelter is also the focus of a legal dispute. The Audiencia Nacional has asked the Government for its files on the camp after the police union SUP challenged its installation on security grounds. The court initially sought documentation and temporarily intervened, but later rejected SUP’s request for an urgent measure. The request for files does not decide the case, and the city continues to use the facility.
Improvised camps remain visible outside the port. La del Trampolín beach is once again fully occupied, despite the temporary migrant reception centre being in operation. One migrant described the journey as a chance to find work and build a better life. His words show the gap between the shelter’s intended purpose and the continued presence of people sleeping outdoors.
Another camp has appeared at Plaza de los Reyes, directly opposite the Government delegation. Its occupants are Ceuta residents calling on every administration involved to act. They say the city cannot treat an exceptional situation as normal.
The dispute intensified after several migrant minors reported humiliating treatment and threats inside reception centres. A lawyer told Canal 24 Horas that some girls had allegedly faced threats of sexual violence from security guards. The lawyer also said educators involved in processing their documents had pressured them, and that some girls had spent nights tied inside bathrooms as punishment. Fiscalía is investigating the complaints. Some of the minors involved still prefer sleeping outside to returning to the centres.
On Sunday, more than 200 people gathered at the Juan Carlos I esplanade, three kilometres from the Moroccan border, before marching towards Tarajal. The Federación Provincial de Asociaciones de Vecinos called the demonstration to defend Ceuta's Spanish status and territorial protection. Participants carried the flags of Ceuta and Spain, alongside a European flag, and called for the Government delegate's resignation. Their slogans echoed the street mobilisation described in earlier coverage of the border crisis.
Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo has demanded loyalty from Morocco and defended 309 million euros in aid for Ceuta. In an interview with RTVE's Informe Semanal, he said the city's population needed a hopeful horizon. He argued that Ceuta and Melilla should be included in European security and border-reinforcement mechanisms. He also warned that false or interested narratives can fuel fear.
The facts point to two failures at once: too few places to stay and weak protection for vulnerable people. More shelter places may reduce the number of people outdoors, but they will not resolve cases of minors waiting for identification or allegations of abuse inside centres. Euronews and other agencies report that the temporary infrastructure did not end the beach camps. Some migrants returned to the shoreline after the new facility ran out of space. Emergency accommodation is expanding, while the streets and public squares reveal what it has not solved.
