Ceuta mayor demands migrant detention center

Ceuta’s mayor has demanded the urgent creation of a migrant detention center, calling for thousands of asylum seekers and undocumented migrants to be held and expelled after a sharp rise in crossings from Morocco to the Spanish North African city last month.

Juan Jesús Vivas, the conservative mayor-president of Ceuta, told reporters that a facility must be set up “immediately” to confine migrants so they are not left on the streets and expulsion processes can be sped up. The proposal comes as Spain faces a surge in irregular arrivals, with authorities estimating 80,000 people made the crossing from Morocco to Ceuta in late July. While Spain says 70,000 were returned to Morocco within 48 hours, thousands remain stranded, straining local resources and sparking a political standoff.

Thousands of migrants, including hundreds of unaccompanied children, are still in Ceuta, lacking access to food, water, shelter, and sanitation. Under Spanish law, unaccompanied minors cannot be deported, and their presence has fueled a dispute between the left-leaning central government and conservative regional leaders. Ceuta’s mayor disputes official figures, claiming 8,000 to 11,000 migrants remain in the city, rather than the government’s estimate of 2,500. On Sunday, around 5,000 residents protested in Ceuta, accusing authorities of failing to secure the enclave.

Spain’s government says it has boosted security, increasing civil guard numbers by 40 percent and deploying more police to manage the crisis. But the dispute over how to handle the remaining migrants—particularly minors—highlights deeper divisions over migration policy within Spain and across the European Union. With no clear resolution in sight, the standoff risks worsening conditions for those stranded and deepening tensions between local, national, and EU authorities.