Migrants sleep in Ceuta cemetery a week after worsening migration crisis

"We came here as illegal migrants and we plan, God willing, to cross over to the happy land. We want to find work and help our parents," says Moroccan Yaser, 21. "We like it here. It's beautiful. We want to have a good life. We've been here for a week suffering. We hope they find a solution for us so we can go to Europe, God willing."

Young people sleep on blankets on the cement or grass between the tombstones, where they also keep their belongings in plastic bags.

On Monday (3), hundreds of migrants set up an improvised camp on a beach in the Spanish exclave. Many are also housed in makeshift facilities in warehouses or sleeping in parks. "There are still minors on our streets, and this is a priority, a great concern", said this Wednesday (5) the government representative in the autonomous city, Miguel Ángel Pérez.

The president of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, in turn, said that the number of migrants under the age of 18 who remain in the autonomous city is unsustainable. He estimates the number of children and adolescents welcomed at around 1,100.

Approximately 70,000 migrants have already returned to neighboring Morocco, according to data from Spanish authorities, but hundreds of unaccompanied minors remain in Ceuta. Local leaders have confirmed that they intend to transfer them to mainland Spain.

"At this moment, the occupancy of the child reception capacity in Ceuta is 2,600% above its critical limit," Vivas told public television. The president of Ceuta is a member of the Popular Party, the main opposition party to the Spanish government led by socialist Pedro Sánchez.

Vivas, who said Ceuta remains "with its heart in its hand", asked the rest of Spain for help.

"Ceuta is experiencing an absolutely extreme situation and we ask for help, we ask for help from the rest of Spain through those who have the executive powers, which is the national government, so that it responds to what was - and everyone recognizes, including the president of the government himself - an attack, a violation of Spain's territorial integrity," he said.

According to Spanish legislation, autonomous communities, such as Ceuta, must help welcome minors from areas experiencing extraordinary tension. However, this rule comes up against resistance in some regions where the Popular Party governs in coalition with the far-right Vox party, which is opposed to this reception and in favor of restrictive migration policies.

"The Popular Party and the governments administered by the Popular Party must comply with the law, just like others", highlighted, however, the first vice-president of the Spanish government and Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, on public television.

Asked about a possible lack of planning, of which some voices accuse the national Executive, Minister Cuerpo highlighted the "exceptional nature" of what happened, which, "in light of the available reports, was totally unpredictable".

Vivas stated, however, that, days before the crisis, he warned the central government that "an intense flow of arrivals was occurring in Ceuta" and that he even asked for the declaration of a national emergency. According to him, the Executive rejected the request because “it was not legally viable”.

"We gave sufficient indications to make it clear that the situation was becoming very tense and that exceptional measures were necessary," he said.