Dozens of Spaniards joined the demonstrations in Miami this Wednesday, organized in Spain, with a rally in front of the Spanish Consulate General in support of Ceuta, just over a month after the mass influx of migrants from Morocco.
The protests were repeated this Wednesday, Ceuta Day, in more than 800 Spanish towns and cities under the slogan “Ceuta is not alone.”
The rally was organized by a group of Spaniards residing in Miami, who were seen with Spanish flags and signs reading “Miami with Ceuta.”
“When such a great injustice is committed and citizens are left so unprotected, one has to raise their voice,” Esther, born in Melilla and a resident of the United States for 22 years, told EFE.
The protester, who withheld her last name, said that both autonomous cities face a situation of defenselessness, abandonment, and fear.
“The sovereignty of the territories of Ceuta and Melilla is above any political party and any ideology,” she added.
The demonstration, called for 6:00 p.m. local time (10:00 p.m. GMT) in Coral Gables, was the first organized by Spaniards in the United States and the second outside of Spain, after the one in Brussels, according to one of its organizers, Juan José Núñez, president of the People’s Party (PP) in the United States.
“The most important thing is that the people of Ceuta feel supported, that they know that 7,000 kilometers away there are Spaniards who are fighting for what is happening,” the organizer stated.
Núñez denounced what he considers the government’s “inaction” in the face of warnings prior to the mass entry. “There is a before and after the Ceuta crisis,” he maintained.
The crisis erupted on July 30, when tens of thousands of migrants, mostly young Moroccans, swam across the Moroccan coast into Ceuta. The Spanish government estimated that more than 80,000 people entered during those two days, the largest influx ever recorded at the Spanish-Moroccan border.
Crossings surged after the Supreme Court excluded sea crossings from summary returns at the border and after calls to cross, seemingly declaring the border open, circulated on social media. Most returned to Morocco in the following days, with more than 73,500 returns by early August.
The Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, specified this Wednesday that 3,658 people had voluntarily returned since August 10 and that there are 1,612 minors in Ceuta. The Ministry of the Interior estimates that around 5,000 remain in the city. The Ceuta government, between 8,000 and 9,000.
