Overview
- The government announced on Thursday that two temporary reception centres will open in Ceuta to house roughly 1,800 migrants who remain after the late-July mass arrival.
- The move is linked to a plan to transfer 500 unaccompanied girls, some reported as young as ten or eleven, to the Spanish mainland for specialised care and legal processing.
- About 72,000 migrants reached Ceuta at the end of July and roughly 70,000 later returned to or were returned to Morocco; the remaining population is disproportionately made up of unaccompanied minors.
- Local residents in Ceuta complain about security and hygiene after weeks of people sleeping on streets and beaches, and authorities have used tents and other temporary sites to expand shelter capacity.
- The decision has intensified a political clash with Partido Popular regional governments that refuse to take in minors, creating uncertainty over relocations and the pace of child protection procedures.