Rising Tensions Lead to Clashes Between Police and Anti-migrant Protestors in Ceuta

A month following a huge inflow of migrants from Morocco, tensions over security in the North African enclave of Ceuta, Spain, reached a boiling point on Thursday, leading to skirmishes between residents and police.

Public television in Spain showed footage of police charging protesters at a beach after a mob of demonstrators broke into a camping area used by migrants, setting fire to many items. Red Cross cars attempted to deliver food to hundreds of migrants camped near the beach earlier on Thursday, but dozens of demonstrators staged a sit-in to briefly block their path.

Police dispersed the demonstrators, who were chanting “They should leave” and “Out with the Red Cross,” and many of them were carrying Spanish flags. These events follow the use of tear gas by police late on Wednesday to disperse protesters and migrants camped on the beach before they clashed.

The people of the tiny 18-square-kilometre city of Ceuta have been holding frequent protests in response to the inflow, which they claim is causing sanitation and security issues. In the early hours of Thursday, over 70 migrants “ambushed” a military truck carrying four troops, attacking it with stones and other things, according to a police official in Ceuta who spoke to AFP. As a result, tensions have intensified. The troops escaped and radioed for reinforcements from the police. The spokesperson stated that twelve migrants, all from Morocco, were apprehended by the police.

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