Overview
- Police moved several thousand people on Friday and placed about 1,700 migrants in a temporary camp at Ceuta’s Muelle de Poniente after a large transfer from the Benítez and El Trampolín beach settlements.
- The operation saw moments of disorder that required containment measures and warning shots, according to security sources, and multiple outlets reported runs, scuffles and brief avalanches at access points.
- Authorities say roughly 9,000–10,000 migrants remain in Ceuta with at least 3,000 sleeping on streets or beaches after the transfer and about 2,048 minors already registered in the enclave.
- Returns are slowed by legal requirements to identify each person and by special protections for children, and immigration officials report some 800 pending minor-return files while Morocco has refused or not answered requests to take back migrants and some recovered bodies.
- Police unions and local officials have denounced poor planning and insufficient resources, health authorities isolated a confirmed mpox case in a 13-year-old unaccompanied minor, and the government says it will expand reception capacity in the coming days.