Thousands of residents demonstrated in Spain’s North African exclave of Ceuta on Sunday after as many as 70,000 migrants crossed from Morocco earlier this month, with religious and neighborhood groups joining calls for stronger border enforcement and government action.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Thousands of people filled the streets of Ceuta on Sunday in a demonstration organized after an extraordinary influx of migrants crossed into the Spanish territory from neighboring Morocco, uniting residents from different political, religious and ethnic backgrounds around demands for stronger border protection.
Police estimated the crowd at about 5,000, while organizers placed attendance as high as 10,000. The demonstration followed an episode earlier this month in which upwards of 70,000 illegal migrants were reported to have crossed the border in a single day.
That number approached the size of Ceuta’s entire population of approximately 87,000, heightening concerns among residents of the Spanish exclave, which has remained under Spanish control for centuries.
Footage circulated from the demonstration, including an X post showing the rally, as participants gathered behind a message emphasizing Ceuta’s status as part of Spain.
The demonstration was organized jointly by representatives of Ceuta’s Christian, Muslim, Hebrew and Hindu communities and the Provincial Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Ceuta, giving the protest a broader civic character than a gathering identified with a single political party.
According to El Mundo, demonstrators repeatedly chanted “Sánchez resign,” “Spanish Ceuta,” “Enough is enough,” and “Ceuta does not give up.”
Ramesh Chandiramani, president of the Hindu Community of Ceuta, spoke on behalf of the city’s principal religious communities and read a “Manifesto for the Unity of Ceuta” to the crowd.
The declaration opened with the statement that “Ceuta is Spain.”
“We are Ceutíes. We are Spanish. And we defend our Spanishness from unity, from coexistence and from mutual respect,” Chandiramani said.
The manifesto characterized the current migrant situation as “extraordinarily critical” and said Ceuta had experienced “a violation of territorial integrity.”
Its authors called on both the Spanish government and European Union authorities to respond with “immediate, decisive, and proportionate” measures.
“Ceuta cannot face alone a situation that far exceeds its capabilities and that affects the whole of Spain and Europe,” the group stated.
The mass crossing occurred amid significant changes and disputes surrounding Spanish immigration policy.
Before the incident, Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that migrants arriving by sea could not be immediately pushed back by border authorities or other law enforcement officials.
According to the account provided, the ruling created a situation in which migrants on the Moroccan side of the boundary could enter the Mediterranean and then reach Ceuta by water, placing them within the category covered by the court’s decision.
The border episode also followed a controversial immigration amnesty pursued by the Socialist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
The program could result in upwards of 1 million illegal migrants obtaining legal residency during the coming months, according to the information provided. Critics also contend that the policy could lead to millions of additional arrivals over subsequent years through family chain migration and by creating an incentive for other migrants seeking possible future residency.
Political opposition to Sánchez has intensified following the Ceuta crossings.
Santiago Abascal, leader of the anti-mass migration VOX party, has called for an investigation into whether Sánchez committed “possible crimes of treason” by allowing tens of thousands of migrants to enter Spanish territory.
Abascal has urged Spain’s parliament to invoke a constitutional mechanism that would permit the Supreme Court to investigate the government over allegations of treason.
“Pedro Sánchez’s betrayal of the Spanish people must be brought before the courts,” Abascal proclaimed.
Sunday’s demonstration placed those political disputes alongside a wider community response in Ceuta, where organizers sought to present a united front across religious and ethnic lines while pressing Madrid and European authorities for a stronger response to the border crisis.
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