Overview
- At the end of July roughly 70,000 people crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, overwhelming the small Spanish exclave and leaving thousands stranded in the following weeks.
- The central government now says about 5,000 migrants remain in Ceuta while aid groups and on-the-ground observers estimate higher figures and incomplete registration complicates planning.
- Madrid announced a broader €165 million support package with immediate tranches and has already received over €32 million in EU emergency funds to cover shelter, health care and the care of more than 1,500 unaccompanied minors.
- The government formally asked Frontex, Europol and the EUAA to deploy staff to help register, triage and potentially return migrants, tasks Madrid says are needed because local authorities cannot locate or process everyone.
- Humanitarian and public-health gaps persist as many sleep outdoors without sanitation, reports cite scabies and tuberculosis risks, and violence by traveling right-wing groups and clashes with security forces have increased pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and could shape domestic politics and EU border policy.