Moment Spanish flag-waving Ceuta locals storm and set makeshift migrant camp on fire – as minister calls for calm
Residents in Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in North Africa, reportedly stormed a makeshift beach camp used by migrants, damaged it and set it alight amid protests over recent arrivals from neighbouring Morocco. The incident heightened tensions around migration, prompting Spain’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to call for calm and condemn violence as a way of resolving the situation.
The article says more than 70,000 migrants crossed into Ceuta last month, although most have since returned to Morocco; an estimated 3,500 to 7,000 remain, with some sleeping in informal beach encampments. Police formed a barrier between protesters and migrants, while a soldier was injured in a separate stone-throwing incident and 12 arrests were made; the government has also created a central command to manage the response.
- Ceuta residents attacked and burned a migrant camp.
- Spain’s interior minister urged calm and rejected violence.
- Thousands of migrants reportedly remain in the enclave.