Ceuta Has Not Returned to Normal, As the Mainstream Media in Malta Want us to believe

The Times of Malta published a fact-checking article following the extraordinary arrival of more than 70,000 migrants in the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta, giving readers the impression that the crisis had largely subsided after most of those who crossed from Morocco were returned.

Yet developments on the ground suggest that describing Ceuta as having simply “returned to normal” was premature.

Spain subsequently put the total number of irregular arrivals at around 72,000 and said that approximately 70,000 had returned to Morocco. But thousands remained behind, and the number appears subsequently to have risen or been reassessed. Recent reports place the figure still in Ceuta at somewhere between approximately 5,000 and 9,000. 

The videos now emerging from Ceuta show why statistics concerning returns do not tell the whole story. Migrants continue to sleep outdoors and occupy public spaces while reception facilities struggle to cope. 

The situation remains sufficiently serious that on 17 August Ceuta’s president, Juan Jesús Vivas, gave Pedro Sánchez’s government 30 days to restore normality, threatening to take the matter before Spain’s courts if Madrid fails to act. Vivas described Ceuta as being in a “situation of exception” and accused the central government of attempting to disguise the reality faced by the city. 

There are also growing public-health concerns. Authorities have strengthened tuberculosis surveillance and introduced additional cleaning, disinfection and water-monitoring measures amid overcrowded living conditions and reported cases of diseases including scabies. The Spanish government disputes claims that the healthcare system has collapsed, but even Madrid acknowledges increased pressure on medical and public-health services. 

Security concerns are also real. Spanish authorities are investigating 15 alleged sexual assaults following the influx, and several migrants have been detained or expelled in connection with individual cases. 

Perhaps most strikingly, migrants themselves are protesting against the conditions. More than 100 people camped at El Trampolín beach began a hunger strike on 17 August demanding asylum, while the Spanish government announced four additional temporary reception sites with capacity for 1,500 people. 

Three weeks after the crisis began, thousands of migrants remain; reception and public services are still under extraordinary pressure, and allegations of serious crimes are being reported in the media. That is hardly a city in which the crisis is over.