The leader of Se Acabó La Fiesta, Alvise Pérez, had to be evacuated this Saturday by the National Police from the concentration called by his party in the plaza de los Reyes de Ceuta, after a group of local residents of Moroccan origin staged a counter-demonstration against his presence in the city.
Shortly after the start of the event, the agents escorted Alvise to the port of the autonomous city under the pressure of the counter-demonstrators, who chanted “out” until his departure from the area and sang slogans like “Ceuta united, not divided” or “Ceuta, Ceuta, Ceuta”, amid applause. The tension arose in a particularly sensitive context, with the city still marked by the recent migration crisis and the political debate on security, coexistence, and borders.
Reproaches before the event
Before the start of the concentration, scheduled for 8:00 PM, a group of residents had already confronted Alvise when he was in a bar in the autonomous city. The leader of SALF was escorted by the National Police and accompanied by the political influencer Vito Quiles, who is under investigation for an alleged crime of defamation against an advisor to the second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz.
At that moment, several citizens reproached him for his presence in Ceuta and accused him of taking advantage of the situation to fuel division. Among the shouts, phrases like “you pursue the weak”, “you take advantage of the situation to sow hate”, “I am Spanish, Spanish” and “don’t get it wrong, I am in my country” were heard.
“We are suffering and you are taking advantage”
Some residents gathered in the area accused the leader of SALF and Quiles of using the migration crisis to send a message of confrontation. “We are suffering and you are taking advantage of the situation,” they expressed during the protest, in a criticism that summarizes the discontent of a part of the Ceuta population regarding the arrival of far-right groups and activists to the city.
One of the residents asked that those who came to Ceuta with Islamophobic messages leave the city and defended that their protest was taking place without violence. “I am exercising my freedom of expression, just like you,” he stated, before reproaching Alvise and his companions for what he considered a racist discourse at a time of high social tension.
Protest against Núcleo Nacional
The scene was repeated with the ultraright organization Núcleo Nacional, which also had a gathering planned in the square of the Kings this Saturday. About 20 members of the group had to be escorted by the National Police to the port of Ceuta, after citizens of Ceuta of Moroccan origin protested against their presence.
The counter-demonstrators chanted slogans such as “they should go” or “this is our city too”, while the agents repeatedly asked them to leave. The gathered refused to abandon the place and remained there until the members of Núcleo Nacional were evacuated, a departure that they celebrated with chants of “oe, oe, oe”.
Escort to the port
The movement of the members of Núcleo Nacional towards the port was accompanied by a caravan of motorcycles and citizens who honked their horns during the journey. The police intervention aimed to prevent greater incidents and separate the demonstrators from the groups that had called for events in a city crossed by a migration crisis that has heightened political and social tension.
The National Police acted as a security cordon both in the case of Alvise and in that of Núcleo Nacional, given the possibility that the protests could lead to confrontations. The priority of the agents was to evict the organizers from the area and maintain control in the surroundings of the square of the Kings and the port.
“This is our city too”
One of the demonstrators of Moroccan origin, Mohamed, 27 years old and a resident of Ceuta, explained to Europa Press that “there are good people and bad people” and that they also do not want “everyone,” because “there are also criminals.” “You have to behave well,” he pointed out, before defending that the members of groups like Núcleo Nacional “have to leave” the city.
His testimony reflects one of the keys of the protest: the defense of the Ceutan belonging of citizens of Moroccan origin who reject being treated as foreign or suspicious population. In their slogans, the counter-demonstrators insisted that Ceuta is also their city and that they do not accept discourses that identify origin, religion, or community with threat.
Ceuta, under tension after the migration crisis
The incidents come at a time of strong sensitivity in Ceuta, after the massive entry of migrants from Morocco and the border reinforcement measures adopted by the Government. The city is trying to recover normality, but the crisis has attracted parties, leaders, and groups that seek to politically capitalize on the discomfort, insecurity, and fear of a part of the population.
The evacuation of Alvise and the members of Núcleo Nacional shows to what extent the situation remains delicate. Ceuta is trying to restore coexistence after days of extreme pressure at the border, while a part of its neighbors rejects that the crisis is used to fuel messages of hate or to divide a city marked by a plural and border identity.