Police arrested two migrants in Ceuta after an alleged sexual assault involving a 17-year-old Moroccan girl. Officers reportedly revived her at Trampolín beach before she was taken to hospital.
At Trampolín beach in Ceuta, police reportedly revived a 17-year-old Moroccan girl before taking her to the Hospital Universitario de Ceuta, or HUCE. Officers arrested two migrants after an alleged sexual assault involving the girl. The sexual-offences protocol was activated. A judicial statement is scheduled for Sunday.
After giving evidence to police, the girl was admitted to a centre for unaccompanied minors. The arrests took place at the beach where the alleged attack was reported.
The emergency response came first.
Between 30 July and 14 September, judicial authorities recorded 37 sexual-violence proceedings in Ceuta involving 39 victims. Fourteen of the victims were minors.
National Police officers had another task at Trampolín beach. They identified minors staying in the area and took them to police premises for formal registration.
Registration is required before the minors can move into places prepared by the regional government in its reception facilities. The operation therefore combined the investigation with an effort to move young migrants from an improvised beach stay into the accommodation system.
Ceuta is also dealing with another case involving minors. On 1 September, police arrested a 17-year-old migrant accused of sexually assaulting three other migrant children aged between 10 and 11. The alleged assaults took place at the temporary Piniers reception centre near El Príncipe.
The judicial figures released through EFE said that, of the 37 proceedings recorded between 30 July and 14 September, 28 were still under investigation on 14 September. Eight had been provisionally closed and one had been joined to an earlier case; the figures describe proceedings and allegations, not final convictions.
Figures from the Fiscalía General del Estado show 23 sexual assaults against migrants up to that date. Nine victims were aged between 14 and 17. Of the eight alleged perpetrators identified, four were Moroccan, three Spanish and one Belgian. All the victims were female except for one male victim from the LGTBI community.
The dispute also concerns what will happen to the minors who entered Ceuta on 30 and 31 July. On Thursday, Ángel Víctor Torres said they could not all be returned. He identified family reunification as the priority.
Torres rejected automatic or immediate returns. He said each decision must follow the law and be assessed on an individual basis.
So far, 2,383 minors have been registered in Ceuta. Fifty-four who arrived after 30 July and had families in mainland Spain have already been reunited with them. Another 118 who arrived before 30 July have been relocated to mainland Spain. Torres also said authorities were preparing up to 300 additional files for further cases.
That is why registration matters.
Without it, minors cannot be assigned to spaces prepared by the regional government. The latest alleged assault has added an urgent protection concern to an already strained reception process.
Ceuta's authorities are dealing with two tasks at once. They are investigating a serious alleged crime and bringing minors from the beach into a formal protection system.
The arrests and hospital transfer show the immediate response. The registration figures show how much work remains. Protection must come before political shorthand. Each measure should be judged by whether it identifies vulnerable minors quickly and keeps them safe while the courts establish responsibility.
The destination of the minors remains politically contested. The central government, Ceuta's authorities and opposition parties disagree over relocation to mainland Spain, continued stay in Ceuta or family reunification in Morocco.
