Ceuta experienced a Sunday of high tension due to attempted attacks on hundreds of migrants from Morocco. Throughout the day, there were violent episodes, such as stones being thrown at police officers. Civil Guard and the shots fired into the air by Moroccan police, which several witnesses heard.
The nervousness of the day reached its peak at eight o’clock in the afternoon, when a group of about 200 young people tried to approach the border post until they were contained by the large police deployment of the Moroccan authorities. Stones from one side were answered by tear gas on the other, with several injured who were immediately transported by ambulance, reports Soraya Aybar from the scene of the event.
Despite the situation, sources from the Ministry of the Interior assure that No irregular entry was recorded in the autonomous city“The entire border perimeter is monitored by state security forces and bodies and guarantees the immediate return of those who cross the barrier, in accordance with the criteria established by law,” the sources said.
Images from Civil Guard cameras showing dozens of migrants throwing stones and objects at the fence in Ceuta.
However, the Spanish authorities have reinforced the contingents at the border, sending up to 100 additional Civil Guard agents. In addition, as this newspaper has learned, they have also traveled to the region air and sea mean trying to prevent entry.
During the day, several attempted attacks took place. The first was forged on Sunday morning. Between 200 and 40 migrants responded to a social media campaign that had gone viral for days to coordinate an attack.
The Moroccan gendarmerie and other security forces in the country have proposed an unprecedented response. According to local press, Morocco deployed about 7,000 troops of its forces and security bodies. It also sent boats to try to intercept migrants swimming on the beach of El Tarajal and buses to transport those intercepted and detained to places further from the Spanish border.
But this did not prevent moments of tension. As demonstrated by the images recorded by the Civil Guard’s security cameras and to which EL ESPAÑOL had access, a very large group of migrants arrived at the fence and threw stones and other objects at the agents of the armed institute.
This event occurred in the morning, at one of the moments of high tension. By noon, everything seemed to have relaxed. The Spanish authorities, who had closed the border intermittently throughout the morning, considered the crisis over by noon and made the decision to reopen it definitively in the afternoon.
However, at dusk they had to close again due to new assault attempts. A wave of migrants managed to cross the Moroccan part of the barrier and enter an area between the borders. There, according to the Interior, they were intercepted by Moroccan agents and the Civil Guard, preventing their entry into Spain, so that no irregular access to the territory of Ceuta was recorded.
Although, at least on the Spanish side, no serious situations have been reported, there has been a drowning at sea and a young man who was trying to swim to Ceuta, with a group of 30 other migrants, has died.
“Morocco is making a big effort across the board border to prevent irregular entries into Ceuta,” they acknowledge from the Interior. “The collaboration with the Moroccan security forces is permanent and their extraordinary work, sustained in recent days, has made it possible to control the situation,” they add.
What happened this Sunday shows that security in Ceuta and immigration control are, to a large extent, in the hands of Morocco. In order to put pressure on Spain or to demonstrate its importance, Riyadh has on other occasions allowed migrants to reach the border and cross it, in the face of truly overwhelmed Spanish authorities.
“The Call of Marlaska”
On the political level, the Vox MP Javier Ortega Smith He took advantage of the situation to settle in Ceuta and make profits. Immigration control and the alleged insecurity generated by migrants are one of the great pillars of Vox’s discourse.
“If illegal immigrants enter through the border with Morocco, it is because Morocco wants them,” Ortega Smith said. As the Interior Minister stated, Fernando Grande-Marlaskacalled on the Moroccan government to mobilize its troops. The Interior Ministry did not reveal this conversation and the Vox MP did not provide proof of its existence.
“Will he ask Sánchez for more money? Will he wait for us to send him more vehicles that our Civil Guard doesn’t have? More money? So that he can build another desalination plant?” he asked.
The President of Ceuta, Juan VivasHowever, he asked for “the tranquility of citizens” and expressed his “full confidence in the work of the body and the security forces”, demonstrating his recognition for “the work they do in extremely difficult and demanding conditions”.
