CUETA RESIDENTS DESTROY MIGRANT CAMP – Tensions rise in Spanish enclave
Protesters in Ceuta set fire to a migrant camp and clashed with police on Thursday. The unrest comes one month after a mass influx of migrants from Morocco to the Spanish enclave in North Africa.
Footage on Spanish television showed a group of demonstrators on a beach, throwing objects into the fire. Police pushed the protesters back while the migrants retreated to a pier.
Earlier on Thursday, a military vehicle was attacked with stones and other objects by about 70 people, a police spokesman in Ceuta told the AFP news agency.
Local protesters tried to stop Red Cross vehicles from reaching the beach to distribute food to migrants. People waving Spanish flags shouted “They should leave” and “Out with the Red Cross.”
In July, more than 70,000 migrants entered Ceuta irregularly in the hope of reaching the European mainland.
While the vast majority of them have since returned to Morocco, several thousand remain in Ceuta, living on the streets or on the beach.
Spain’s government in Madrid puts the number at below 7,000 while Ceuta officials say it’s at least 10,000. Ceuta’s population is about 84,000 people.
