By Victoria Waldersee and Miguel Pereira
One placard read: “SOS. Their presence has triggered near-daily protests by locals against the Spanish government’s management of the crisis, with demonstrators calling for the migrants to be sent back to their countries of origin or redistributed across Spain. “The response has been inadequate, late and, to top it all, has involved a complete dereliction of duty on the part of the government. Spain’s leftist government distanced itself from the initiative, accusing the right of exploiting the crisis for political benefit.
Nearly five weeks after the surge, over 10,000 migrants, including unaccompanied minors, remain stranded in makeshift camps or scattered across streets and beaches in the enclave, according to Ceuta’s authorities. We cannot be second-class citizens, and our border must not be sidelined,” said David Hernandez, a 45-year-old teacher. A manifesto by citizens’ initiative ‘Por Ceuta’ , which calls for respect for residents’ and migrants’ human rights, the orderly return of those without the right to remain, and more security reinforcements, has garnered nearly 65,000 signatures.
Europe, save us from our traitor government” while some demanded that authorities should “expel the invaders” and others called for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to resign as demonstrations also took place in other cities across Spain, including Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao. “This is not about defending Ceuta and the Ceutans, it is about attacking the government,” Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres told radio station RNE. The initiative says it has no political affiliation. “The central government needs to provide funds and the local government needs to provide space … that’s the battle we’re in,” said Juan Miguel Morales, director of Sur Acoge charity.
