Queues, shoves and police charges to get a bed in Ceuta: "It's like a war"

CeutaHafed had been sleeping at the doors of the Loma Colmenar emergency reception center, next to Ceuta Hospital, for six days to get a bed. He is 22 years old, from Tangier, and arrived in Spain by sea just a month ago. During this time, he has slept everywhere, especially on the street, and hoped that this Monday he would finally be allowed into one of the centers that are supposed to shelter people like him. New places were opening this Monday in this same complex. The news spread like wildfire among the migrants who have to make a living in the autonomous city, and early in the morning groups of young people began to arrive with the hope of finding shelter, even if only temporarily.

Many had already been waiting for their turn for 10 days, after being left out of the first 1,800 available places. And once the first in line started to enter, the nerves set in. Some migrants began to push each other, as no one wanted to be left without a place. "It was like a war," says Hafed from outside, because when it was his turn to enter, the police informed them that the facility, located on a plot of land ceded by the government of Ceuta, was full. So far, the Spanish government has opened 3,300 new temporary care places to accommodate immigrants in Ceuta, a figure that by no means covers the 5,000 people who, at least, remain in the city and who continue to be forced to sleep on the street, in the woods, or on the beach. "There is no one controlling the situation or any solution, only the police to kick us out," complains Hafed.

To reverse this situation, the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, announced this Monday that in the coming days 6,000 places will be reached to accommodate them all. While these do not arrive, however, thousands of migrants continue to push to access the services that are available, such as this Loma Colmenar facility. Although the police insisted that they could not enter, many of them have stayed at the gates of the compound with the hope of a last-minute change that would allow them to access it. Some have even tried to enter the esplanade and there have been moments of tension with the National Police officers, who have fired rubber bullets into the air and charged to stop them. One person has been injured and had to be attended to inside the facilities.

Others, like Abdel Kader, watch from afar, increasingly less hopeful. He accepts that tonight they will sleep rough again and takes refuge from the heat under the shade of a tree. From there he observes how the migrants still queuing at the gate of the compound sit on the ground. He has lost seven kilos since he arrived in Ceuta, that he does not sleep well and that he only eats when someone gives him money or food. He is 37 years old and is from Al-Djadida. His parents are still in Morocco, but he wants to keep moving forward after crossing the border. However, he says he does not want to stay in Spain because "there are many racists" and these days he assures that he has received threats from citizens. He says that he was even attacked with a knife, while he recreates with his fingers how big the blade of the weapon was.

He says he is also annoyed with the soldiers working in the city, whom he accuses of having broken his phone. "I begged them: 'Please, don't break it, I need to talk to my parents,' but they didn't listen to me." Like him, many of these people have had to buy another one, as their devices were damaged while crossing the border and they want to get in touch with their family and friends.

In parallel, a group of about 250 migrant women and girls who were sleeping in a sports center in the Ceuta neighborhood of El Príncipe have been transferred to a new reception center set up around the city's equestrian center. About 400 women and girls in total were living in this sports center, close to a public school, and the transfer was made "to prevent them from being on the streets and suffering sexual assaults," according to sources from the Ceuta government. The neighbors of the neighborhood have taken care of their attention in this facility, but local authorities and humanitarian organizations have provided them with food. The women and girls have left the settlement in small groups and on board municipal buses.

"I don't know where they come from"

Despite moments of tension at the facility's door, there have also been scenes of relief. One of these occurred when the cleaning service sprayed those waiting with a hose to cool them down. Everyone applauded and celebrated: the high temperatures are an added difficulty for these people, forced to sleep in the open.

Fati and Naima are also watching the scene. They, however, from their home window. They are neighbors of Ceuta and live right in front of the temporary reception facility that has been set up in Loma Colmenar. They are mother and daughter and say that this past month has been very bad for them, that they are afraid to leave their homes. From the window, they see hundreds of people trying to enter the compound and some, tired of the situation, confronting the police, which does not help these women feel safe. They believe that the government of Ceuta could have done more to avoid this situation, but they are increasingly less optimistic.

No matter how much they are forced to live poorly on the city's margins, these people have no intention of leaving, and the neighbors are increasingly fed up. "This has no solution. I see more and more people. I don't know where they come from," laments Fati. With the aim of preventing them from wandering around the center, they explain that the police have pushed them to the outskirts of the city, like the neighborhood where the two of them live.