Thousands of Ceuta residents marched towards the city’s border with Morocco on Sunday, demanding stronger frontier enforcement measures and the expulsion of all remaining illegal invaders.
Ceuta, whose residents are still suffering through the consequences of the massive late July migrant invasion, was the center of the mass gathering.
The local Federation of Neighborhood Associations rallied its members and other residents under the slogan, “S.O.S. Ceuta Invaded,” to march towards the Tarajal border crossing, which connects the Spanish exclave with Morocco and where the main events of the invasion took place nearly two months ago.
Local outlets report that, at the same time, over a hundred members of a Ceuta bikers association also staged a protest, riding together through the city’s streets before gathering at the Juan Carlos I esplanade, located about 1.8 miles away from the border crossing with Morocco.
El Faro de Ceuta reports that the bikers’ protest eventually merged with the neighborhood association’s. The joint group marched on foot towards Tarajal, espousing chants against Morocco, referring to the country as a “scoundrel,” and emphasizing that Ceuta belongs to the Caballas, as Ceuta’s inhabitants like to call themselves, reiterating that Ceuta also belongs to Spain.
The group also called upon the European Union to stand with Ceuta, exclaiming, “Europe, listen, Ceuta is your fight.”
El Pueblo de Ceuta detailed that a representative of the Federation of Neighborhood Associations intended to read a manifesto once the protest arrived at the border crossing — but the person tasked with reading the document was not able to arrive on time due to circumstances unrelated to the event.
Instead, the association shared its text with local outlets. El Pueblo, summarizing the manifesto, explained that the group once again condemned the migrant invasion of the city and the “systematic violation of our borders, which have been colonized by the inaction of others.” The group expressed the fears and concerns of Ceuta’s residents, who feel “abandoned” by the Spanish central government — stressing that their safety and social peace was altered by the invasion.
Speaking on behalf of the people of Ceuta, the neighborhood associations are demanding the immediate reinforcement of the city’s border security, with the permanent and “uncompromising” deployment of all required security forces to ensure absolute Spanish control of the frontier.
Secondly, the group demands the immediate deportation of all invading migrants that still remain in the city nearly two months after the invasion.
Additionally, the protesters demand increased security measures for Ceuta’s streets, insisting that the city is not a “camp,” but their home instead. Lastly, the group demands the immediate cessation of all mass amnesty and regularization processes in Spain, ending policies that can constitute a “call effect” for additional illegal migrants.
“Ceuta has shown extraordinary resilience and composure in the face of this outrage, but the patience of its citizens has its limits. We will not tolerate the normalization of this assault on our sovereignty. We demand security, we demand respect, and we demand that words of institutional support be translated into decisive action to protect our land,” the manifesto reportedly read.
