Briefing
Ceuta, 26 October 2026 – The National Police carried out a large-scale operation in several parts of Ceuta on Monday to locate people without the right to remain and, where appropriate, transfer them to the border with Morocco. According to the Delegation of the Central Government in Ceuta twelve residents of the Centro de Estancia Temporal de Inmigrantes (CETI) to the land border crossing at Tarajal . The centre serves as temporary accommodation for arriving migrants.
The CETI had initially planned the forced departure of around 70 people, but the number fell because many of those affected had already left the facility. According to reports, the operation also included deployments at Playa del Trampolín and in the neighbourhoods of Poblado Regulares, Los Rosales and El Príncipe. Units from the Unidad de Intervención Policial (UIP) and the Unidad de Prevención y Reacción (UPR) were among those deployed, along with several buses for transport.
The delegation stresses that the measures concern people whose applications for international protection have been rejected or who, following examination, are not eligible to apply; in every case, identity will be verified and the individual procedure applied before any return. At the same time, aid organisations, including Caminando Fronteras, have raised criticism: they report that people have been left in a legal and humanitarian “limbo” and denounce a lack of transparency, restricted access to legal advice and risks to vulnerable people.
The previous Friday, the authorities said they had detained 295 people in a separate operation; 146 had returned to Morocco voluntarily. The events come amid ongoing migration movements through the North African exclave and recurring coordination measures between national security forces and administrative bodies. The authorities did not say how many people would in fact be affected in the coming days. Observers are calling for transparent documentation and guaranteed access to legal assistance for everyone affected.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).