'There is an enemy within': Ceuta returns to normal after migrant crisis, but questions haunt locals

A migrant crisis was triggered in Ceuta after 60,000 people flowed in from Morocco into the Spanish territory.

Following a border security crisis as 60,000 migrants, mostly young men, from Morocco poured into Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta, conditions have now mostly returned to normal in the city of 84,000 as most migrants have departed. Remnants of the incident and a political battle, however, still lingers in the air.

Most of the migrants who crossed over into Ceuta have returned back to Morocco, as per Spain's interior ministry. (Reuters)

The death toll from the crisis has already risen to 72, as five more bodies were discovered along the city's coast line, Reuters reported. The government, on its part, put up a containment barrier to prevent entry along the sea route.

Residents try to find reason

Ceuta, a city of 84,000 which is generally known as a cultural hub with a mixed population of Christians, Jews, Hindus and Muslims living in relatively harmony, has now opened up an essential discussion over Spain's open border policy.

As Spanish police personnel amped up their efforts to escort migrants out of the city, multiple shops were shut down in order to cut their supply to food. These shops are now gradually reopening as most of the influx crowd has headed back.

Despite the chaos created by the situation, some residents choose not to place the blame on the migrant crowds. “It's not the young men's fault,” Mohamad Abdelkader Driss, 44, a waiter at a fried fish restaurant in town told AP. “If you open the border, of course everyone comes in, but the young men aren't to blame. The authorities are responsible.” He instead pointed out that the migrants had behaved relatively well.

“It pains me deeply that young people are dying at sea,” Karima Abenaz, a French national in Ceuta with family in Morocco, told Reuters. “It’s not right that, in the year 2026, women with children as young as two months old should be crossing the sea only to die. In Morocco, there’s food, there’s everything we need. If we don’t have a decent job, we should go on strike and demand our rights from the government. We shouldn’t be dying at sea, it’s not right."

The political upheaval

Far-right politicians have been openly critical of the incident with many blaming Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's open borders policy for the incident. Many of them have visited Ceuta to express their condemnation, but have received backlash over the same.

Alvise Pérez, a far-right Spanish politician and member of the European Parliament, called on Saturday evening for migrants to be expelled as he faced an angry crowd of rival protesters. He eventually had to seek shelter in a bar as residents banged on the windows, until police escorted him away.

Among those involved in the counter-protest on Saturday was a 20-year-old Ceuta resident and student, Noor Ahmed, who saw these efforts of right-wing politicians as opportunistic in nature. “They just want to take advantage of the humanitarian crisis Ceuta is currently experiencing,” Ahmed told AP.

Eva Barrientos, a resident of Ceuta who works at a logistics company, came to the protest on Saturday evening and was fairly suspicious of such an incident unfolding again. “In Ceuta, we have always lived together. We have four cultures living very well, without any problems,” she said. “But the only thing we are realizing now is that there is an enemy within.” Barrientos, instead, blamed some people in Ceuta's otherwise diverse society of bearing greater commitment towards Morocco than the city they now live in.

The issue has rung alarm bells in the European Union (EU) as well with 22 member states writing a letter demanding coordinated action to protect external borders. In light of the situation, Italy has suspended its free travel policy with Spain under the Schengen rules for a period of one month.

The EU is scheduled to hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss their response to the crisis.