CEUTA — Before dawn on Sunday, more than 300 officers from Spain’s Policía Nacional and riot units moved into the shanty settlement that had mushroomed on Trampolín beach beside the city’s critical desalination facility. Authorities say the goal was two-fold: protect vital water-supply infrastructure and reduce the accident risk for the several hundred migrants camping among concrete blocks and break-waters. The operation comes after Ceuta’s Environment Ministry formally warned the central government on 11 September that the encampment posed “grave security and public-health risks”. Migrants were bussed to a temporary site near the disused Guano fertiliser plant, where modular housing is being erected with EU emergency funds. City workers immediately began removing debris and plan to erect a perimeter fence this week to prevent re-occupation. No clashes were reported, but NGOs criticised the lack of advance notice, claiming some occupants lost personal documents in the hurried evacuation. The Interior Ministry insists everyone was offered medical screening and access to asylum procedures. It has not clarified how long the temporary site will remain open. For companies with staff travelling to or through Ceuta, the clean-up reduces contamination risk to the desalination plant that supplies 90 % of the enclave’s water. However, the transfer of several hundred people closer to industrial warehouses may prompt new road-blocks and require rerouting of logistics convoys using the eastern ring road. The sweep highlights Madrid’s shift from emergency containment to longer-term infrastructure protection after July’s crisis. With work now starting on a €9-million extension of the Tarajal break-water, additional site clearances are likely—potentially impacting port access and cross-border commuter flows.
Source: Diario de Navarra / RAC1
