The Spanish Council of Ministers approved a package of measures worth 309 million euros list for Ceuta on 1 September 2026. It is intended to strengthen public services and support the city’s economy after the recent border crisis. This was announced after the meeting by the economy minister and vice-president of the government, Carlos Cuerpo.
The package is centred on 229 million euros for the public sector. The funds will go to health and education services, security forces, and additional capacity for reception, justice administration and legal assistance. The government said implementation would begin promptly in the coming weeks, citing the exceptional strain on the city caused by border crossings at the end of August 2026.
For businesses and workers, 80 million euros is earmarked. A fund of 36.6 million euros, administered by the Agencia Tributaria , will provide direct one-off payments to around 2,500 self-employed people and 1,500 businesses in Ceuta. According to the government, transfers of 5,000 euros per self-employed person and between 10,000 and 150,000 euros per business are planned, depending, among other things, on size and revenue trends. The government is also planning 14 million euros for consumer vouchers and tourism promotion, for example through discounts on transport, to provide short-term support for demand.
In addition to the immediate assistance, the executive announced structural tax relief: Ceuta and Melilla are to receive permanent tax breaks worth around 500 million euros over the next five years. This is intended to strengthen the competitiveness of the two exclaves against mainland Spain. The government plans to set out the detailed rules and application requirements in a Real Decreto-Ley .
The approved assistance is a direct response to the heightened situation on the border with Morocco. According to the government, the high number of border crossings had placed considerable strain on Ceuta’s reception facilities and public services in a short time. Cuerpo said the measures were intended to ensure the city’s services continued to function quickly and to limit economic fallout.
The government expects regional stakeholders to closely monitor the impact of the assistance on employment, domestic demand and tourism. Evaluations of take-up and the effectiveness of individual measures are to be presented in the coming months. Applications for direct assistance will be coordinated by the Agencia Tributaria; for further details, the government referred to the forthcoming publication of the Royal Decree-Law.
Editor: Daniel Mayer (Article created with AI assistance).