Broken glass and panic hit Ceuta’s port on Sunday night when a mob surrounded the car of Julia Ferreras, a deputy from Ceuta Ya!, outside the maritime station. The crowd thought her car belonged to activists from the Navarrese NGO Negu Gorriak. Ferreras and her group of human rights lawyers and activists were trapped as protesters smashed the windows and threw stones and eggs. Some climbed onto the car. Those inside feared for their lives.
The attack came as anger over migration and activist groups reached a peak. Protesters, organized online with slogans against “radical groups,” gathered to block Negu Gorriak / Derecho a Techo. They accused the group of being “proetarra” and wanted them out of Ceuta. Negu Gorriak had announced plans to provide humanitarian aid and monitor alleged violence against migrants by authorities. This sparked local fears and drew a crowd waving Spanish and Ceuta flags to the port, just steps from makeshift camps where more than 1,700 people are staying.
Ferreras said the violence started when her companions were picked out in the crowd. As she tried to get them out, the mob mistook her car for the activists’. Attackers broke both front and rear windows, tore off a mirror and struck the car’s body. Those inside ducked for cover. Ferreras said she told the crowd she was a local deputy, but they ignored her. National Police stepped in and pulled the group out in a fast reverse under escort.
“We were terrified. I thought we wouldn’t get out alive. They came to lynch us,” Ferreras told Cadena SER. She said many attackers were people she knew from her own neighborhood. Ferreras called for an end to political incitement and blamed the local right for stirring up unrest: “The right is encouraging this. Our president keeps calling people invaders, day after day, creating a climate of insecurity and unease.”
Police also faced anger from the crowd. Some called officers “sanchistas” and criticized their response. Riot police used smoke grenades and fired warning shots to clear the area near Casa del Mar. At least two people were arrested for public disorder and property damage. The police union SUP criticized the lack of preparation, saying authorities had plenty of warning about the protest and the city’s tense mood, but frontline officers were left to deal with the fallout. RTVE and El Mundo reported that Ferreras filed a formal police complaint after the attack. The leader of Ceuta Ya! publicly confirmed the damage and the complaint; the latest updates reported no further official decisions or criminal consequences.
Even after dark, groups stayed at the port’s entrances. They checked cars arriving from Algeciras and kept up pressure on the city’s southern border. This came as Ceuta dealt with the aftermath of a mass arrival of migrants at the end of July. Thousands were still in temporary camps or on the streets. The government said between 9,000 and 10,000 migrants remained in the city, with 3,000 to 4,000 still without shelter.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska is set to visit Ceuta’s Temporary Attention Center for Foreigners (CATE), where officials are sorting cases for asylum or expulsion. He will also visit the city’s asylum office, along with police and Guardia Civil units. Authorities are trying to address the humanitarian and security problems caused by the ongoing crisis.
The political fight is sharpening. The central government and the local administration led by Juan Jesús Vivas and the PP are openly clashing. Most recently, police advised against holding a Spain-Mexico U20 football match in Ceuta because of “migratory pressure” and “social tension,” so the match was moved. The port’s temporary shelter is another flashpoint. The police union SUP tried to stop its operation on security grounds, but the National Court refused. Last Friday, 1,700 people were housed there.
Ceuta’s social fabric is wearing thin. The attack on Ferreras’s car reflects the city’s raw nerves and political divisions. As reported earlier, national leaders are under pressure over their handling of Ceuta’s crisis.
