The Spanish government says it has already set up 3,300 of the 6,000 planned temporary accommodation spaces for migrants in Ceuta. These are for people who remain in the city following the mass arrival across the border from Morocco on July 30.
Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration confirmed on Monday that a total of 3,300 temporary accommodation spaces have now been created. According to the ministry, the new spaces are located in various temporary facilities, and the government plans to gradually increase the number to 6,000.
Where migrants are being accommodated
New spaces began to be set up early on Monday, including for women with underage children. Since the start of the migration crisis, the government has established temporary accommodation points in Loma Colmenar (1,200 spaces), Loma Margarita (1,300), at the Temporary Immigrant Stay Center (CETI) in Ceuta (over 500 additional spaces), and in tents set up in the La Hípica area (320 spaces). These are in addition to the 500 permanent spaces that CETI has at its disposal year-round.
The ministry emphasizes that the humanitarian aid system is being constantly expanded in line with the city’s needs. The ultimate goal is to gradually increase the number of temporary spaces to 6,000 so that people who remain on the streets can receive the necessary assistance in proper conditions while their cases are processed.
Local authorities in Ceuta and other organizations have been demanding for weeks the deportation of thousands of migrants who still remain in the city, a month after more than 70,000 people arrived across the border from Morocco. The issue of their accommodation has become a point of contention with Spain’s central government after Ceuta’s president, Juan Jesús Vivas, refused to provide some municipal sports facilities for temporary migrant accommodation.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, in his first media interview since the start of this migration and humanitarian crisis, had already stated that “in a short period of time” there would be enough accommodation in the autonomous city for the migrants who remained in Ceuta after the mass arrival at the end of July.
In an interview with Cadena SER, Sánchez said that the creation of 3,300 spaces was achieved “thanks to an agreement” reached last week with the Ceuta government. This, in particular, allowed the number of spaces for underage migrants to be increased from approximately 200 to 1,200.
Sánchez also said it is “very likely” that the migrants who remain in the city a month after the mass arrival will return to Morocco within “reasonable timeframes.” To achieve this, he said, it is necessary to speed up the processing of each case as much as possible. To this end, authorities have even provided for the possibility of conducting some interviews via video conference.
Source: 20minutos
