Ceuta beach turns into sprawling migrant camp amid health warnings

More than two weeks after a massive influx from Morocco, Ceuta still hosts between 5,000 and 8,000 undocumented migrants, including a sizable number of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum. The beach at Trampolín has been transformed into a camp with upwards of 80 makeshift huts constructed from coastal reeds and repurposed waste, each capable of sheltering up to 15 people. Health authorities have flagged the settlement as a potential breeding ground for cholera, tuberculosis, measles and infectious diarrhoea due to the presence of excrement and lack of sanitation.

Physicians on the ground are attending to between 300 and 400 patients each day, estimating roughly 3,000 residents in the beach camp. The Ceuta Medical Association’s president has called for the installation of showers and urinals, noting that residents survive on a single daily meal. In response, a team from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration will travel to the enclave to explore temporary accommodation solutions. Authorities also report arrests related to terrorism and sexual assault, and Morocco has detained hundreds of additional would-be crossers.