Ceuta faces second night of tense protests: government and media in the crosshairs

Ceuta has faced its second consecutive night of protests over the migration crisis, and social tensions continue to rise. Tuesday's demonstrations against the alleged plan by the government to house migrants in the Coronel Fiscer barracks were followed on Wednesday by a new wave of protests that ended with barricades, rubber bullets fired by police and blockades on the streets around the port.

Both days share a common denominator that is starting to repeat itself as the crisis persists: the press covering the situation has also become a target of criticism.

Two nights, two TV crews harassed

On Tuesday, a reporter from Spanish television channel La Sexta and his cameraman had to take shelter behind the tables of a pavement terrace when several residents surrounded them, shouting "Fuera, fuera!" ("Out, out!") as they covered the protest. A video recorded by 'El Faro de Ceuta', which went viral hours later, showed insults and shoving, including by several minors, with police failing to intervene until someone pushed the journalist.

That same day, a journalist from Spanish public broadcaster RTVE chose to cover the story without the microphone's branded foam cover, a gesture that was interpreted on social media as an attempt to go unnoticed.

The following day, caution was not enough. While the National Police were sealing off access to the Government Delegation, where the single-command monitoring committee was meeting, chaired by the Minister for Territorial Policy, Angel Víctor Torres, alongside the president of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, the Minister for Migration, Elma Saiz, and representatives of other ministries joining by videoconference, several demonstrators hurled abuse at journalists covering the meeting, including an RTVE crew, as the Spanish public broadcaster itself confirmed.

The Federation of Spanish Journalists' Associations (FAPE) and the party Movimiento por la Dignidad y la Ciudadanía (MDyC) see both episodes as part of an escalation of harassment against the press in the city, adding to the expulsion several weeks ago of RTVE crews and EFE news agency staff from the Moroccan town of Fnideq by the Rabat authorities.

These are not the first attacks of this kind: a couple of weeks ago, another journalist was assaulted in Ceuta after being mistaken for a migrant. MDyC insists that residents' exhaustion, however understandable after almost a month of crisis, cannot turn those who report the news into targets of the tension: "They are doing their job, just like the State's law-enforcement agencies," the party said in its statement.

Barricades on Trampolín beach and a blocked port

The second day of protests began at 19:00, with hundreds of residents, many carrying Spanish flags, chanting slogans such as "Ceuta se defiende" and "un caballa nunca se rinde" and demanding that the deportations of foreign nationals in an irregular situation who do not have the right to asylum be sped up.

As night fell, the tone hardened: small barricades were erected and a group of young people tried to dismantle some of the huts in the migrant settlement on Trampolín beach, where police blocked access and fired rubber bullets to deter them.

The march, which was heading towards the Government Delegation, finally dispersed in Plaza de África without reaching the Otero flour factory as planned, according to RTVE. One group, however, continued and blocked Avenida Teniente General Muslera, near the port, by dragging containers into the carriageway, according to Radio Television Ceuta.

"We can't go out, the children can't get to school, we can't go out feeling safe," one resident summed up; others complain that public services are overwhelmed: "Our police, our ambulances, our cleaning services, can't cope," said the president of the San Daniel neighbourhood association. Since Wednesday, municipal workers have been holding a minute's silence, joined by Vivas himself.

In the background, one figure continues to define the crisis: nearly 80,000 migrants entered on 30 and 31 July, according to Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, most of whom have already been returned. The focus is now on minors: the National Police has identified around 1,500 minors who entered irregularly, a number revised down from the initial 2,168 after duplicate records were removed.

Pre-dawn ambush

Amid escalating tensions, an incident has occurred that makes the situation even more serious. Four soldiers were injured in an ambush carried out by a group of between 30 and 40 people who arrived in Ceuta during the mass migrant entries, in the Benzú area. The incident took place at around 5:30 a.m., when the personnel were heading to the observation post set up in that part of Ceuta.

The attack occurred after the soldiers had passed the traffic lights at Benzú and reached their surveillance post. At that moment, several individuals emerged from different directions and rushed towards the vehicle carrying members of the Ceuta General Command (Comgeceu).

The vehicle, which was not armoured, quickly stopped providing adequate protection for the personnel. The group began hurling large stones at the vehicle, forcing the four soldiers to abandon it and flee on foot to reach safety.

The situation did not end when the soldiers left the vehicle. The attackers continued chasing them towards Calamocarro while still throwing stones. Some of the projectiles struck the soldiers. The soldiers were particularly exposed during the first moments of their escape, until they managed to find cover and call the 112 emergency number for help.

Police deployment

The emergency call triggered an operation involving officers from the National Police and the Civil Guard. According to initial reports, the arrival of the first police vehicle prompted members of the group to flee towards Benzú.

Security forces then began a pursuit and managed to arrest 12 individuals, all of them Moroccan nationals and apparently aged between 35 and 40.

During the police operation, several of those involved tried to escape by sea. Some jumped into the water to avoid arrest, prompting the Civil Guard's Maritime Service to continue search operations for those still in the sea. Police also fired shots during the operation to scare off and disperse the group.

Once the situation was under control, the four soldiers were taken to a medical centre for treatment. They suffered injuries including pain in their arms and backs, as well as bruises caused by the assault and the stone-throwing.