Spain calls for calm after Ceuta residents clash with police over migrant standoff

Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska urged calm in parliament on Friday after residents of Ceuta clashed with police during protests against migrants still present in the North African enclave following a mass crossing in July.

Tensions in the territory, home to about 80,000 people across just 18.5 square kilometres, have remained high since at least 60,000 people crossed into Ceuta over several days in July, prompting a Europe-wide alert. Spain's leftist government says most of those migrants have since left, though thousands remain, sleeping on beaches and wandering the streets.

Clashes escalate

Demonstrations intensified this week, culminating in Thursday's clash between protesters and police at a beach where migrants had been sleeping; some of the migrants' belongings were burned. In a separate incident, a soldier was injured when migrants threw stones at troops, leading to the arrest of 12 Moroccan migrants. Two further arrests followed an attack on a police officer.

"Violence is not the answer," Grande-Marlaska told lawmakers, calling for an end to all forms of violence given the complexity of the situation facing Ceuta.

Juan Vivas, head of Ceuta's local government, said peaceful protests demanding a return to normality were legitimate, but warned that anyone committing acts of vandalism would face consequences. He stressed that no one has the right to take the law into their own hands and that residents' interests must be pursued legally.

Right-wing and far-right parties have called for all migrants to be rounded up and returned to their countries of origin; the interior minister accused them of inciting hatred and confrontation. The government said each migrant must be individually identified to determine eligibility for asylum or deportation, while unaccompanied minors require special protection.

Ceuta, along with nearby Melilla, forms Europe's only land border with Africa.