Police Deploy Over 350 Officers to Clear Migrant Camps Across Ceuta
More than 350 Policía Nacional officers launched a Sunday operation to evict migrants from the Tarajal warehouses and other sites in Ceuta, transporting residents by bus.
Around 9:20 a.m. on Sunday, over 350 Policía Nacional officers arrived at Ceuta’s Tarajal warehouses to start a massive eviction of migrant encampments. After earlier disturbances, residents gathered on the upper level before being organized into groups of 20-30 and escorted onto waiting buses. The operation, coordinated by the Unidades de Intervención Policial and Unidades de Prevención y Reacción, also targeted sites in Los Rosales, Poblado Regulares, the lower part of the Príncipe district and the area near the CETI.
Police, aided by local traffic police and the city’s Área de Inclusión, moved people to the Centro de Atención Temporal de Extranjeros, where asylum seekers begin protection procedures while others are prepared for return to Morocco. Throughout the morning, excavators and cleaning crews cleared the former camps, removing debris from more than two months of informal occupation. Minor Hamza, 16, was seen showing his birth certificate to officers before boarding a bus. The sweep underscores Spain’s ongoing strategy to manage irregular migration into the autonomous city.
Why it matters
The operation shows how Spanish authorities are handling the growing migrant presence in Ceuta and the legal pathways for asylum or return.
How the sides frame it
LOW AGREEMENTLeft-leaning coverage describes the police operation and logistics, while right-leaning coverage frames the situation as a governmental betrayal and an invasion causing fear among residents.
LEFT
Focuses on the scale and coordination of the police eviction of migrant camps and the procedural handling of asylum seekers.
RIGHT
Portrays the episode as a crisis of abandonment by the government, labeling the migrant presence an invasion and emphasizing resident insecurity.
The left emphasises
- over 350 Policía Nacional officers deployed
- operation coordinated by police intervention and prevention units
- migrants moved to temporary care centers for protection or return
The right emphasises
- government accused of betraying Ceuta residents
- the migrant situation described as an "invasion" causing daily insecurity
- elderly residents expressed fear, likening it to "War of the Worlds"
How this story developed
- Aug 21 Spanish police detain five suspected migrant smugglers operating from Ceuta
- Oct 1 etc
- Oct 7 King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will invite civil-society groups from Ceuta and Melilla to the traditional reception at the Royal Palace.
- Oct 10 EU has begun drafting specific accession roadmaps for Montenegro, Ukraine, Moldova and Albania.
- Oct 12 Moroccan naval vessels entered Spanish territorial waters around Ceuta while large numbers of migrants crossed the land border, prompting a Spanish naval response.
- Oct 13 The royals have begun an overnight stay in Ceuta as part of their extended visit.
- Oct 13 Santa María was replaced by the frigate Navarra after a mechanical failure.
- Oct 13 EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Pedro Sánchez's government to swiftly send irregular migrants who entered Ceuta back to Morocco, and pledged EU support for the removals.
- Oct 13 Police and the army cleared the Guano informal migrant settlement in Ceuta’s northern bay days before the royal visit.
- Oct 14 EU officials released a draft accession schedule for the four candidates.
- Oct 14 The royal couple travelled from Ceuta to Melilla, where they were presented with the city’s golden key and toured a bilingual school with an autism classroom.
- Oct 15 Feijóo filed a popular accusation with the Audiencia Nacional over the Moroccan ships' entry.
- Oct 15 In his Melilla speech the king emphasized the city’s status as part of the EU’s external border.
- Oct 16 Sánchez arrived in Brussels for the European Council where Merz and Mitsotakis plan to confront him.
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