The Government estimates that there are about 10,000 immigrants in Ceuta, more than 3,000 still on the streets.

The Government estimates that around 10,000 immigrants remain irregularly in Ceuta. Of them, about 6,000 are housed in resources provided by the Administration and between 3,000 and 4,000 continue on the streets, the hills, and the beaches of the autonomous city.

The figures come from government sources and are based on information provided by the State Security Forces deployed on the ground.

The Government doubles its previous estimate 

The new estimate doubles the figure that had been offered so far by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska. On August 13, two weeks after the massive entry of about 80,000 people, Marlaska assured that around 5,000 migrants remained in Ceuta. The minister repeated that figure at the end of the month during his appearance before Congress.

The Executive has now updated its calculations on the same day it has deployed a operation to transfer immigrants to the tents set up in the port, with a capacity for about 1,700 people. This action sparked some tension early in the morning, with runs and police charges.

The minister in charge of the single command in Ceuta, Ángel Víctor Torres, assured this Tuesday that 4,160 immigrants were already housed in different resources. If we add the 1,700 places in the port, we can conclude that nearly 6,000 people would remain in accommodations controlled by the Executive.

The concentration of migrants in these spaces will facilitate their identification and the opening of the corresponding expulsion files when they do not have the right to receive asylum.

Between 3,000 and 4,000 people remain without accommodation

The Government acknowledges that it still has to find accommodation for the between 3,000 and 4,000 immigrants who remain without a place in government accommodations. The Executive hopes to enable new spaces, although the work has not yet begun and their location is also not decided.

Altercations during the transfer to the port

As we have pointed out previously, the operation to transfer the immigrants settled on the beaches of Benítez and El Trampolín began early this Friday. The agents organized the movement to the temporary camp set up at the port, where each person had to be identified before entering. During the operation, there were runs and moments of tension when numerous immigrants tried to enter the enclosure.

The National Police carried out charges to contain them and there were also fights among the migrants themselves and attacks against the agents. The operation was affected by the difference between the approximately 3,000 people concentrated in the beach settlements and the 1,700 places available in the new camp.

The Unified Police Union had warned of the risk of the operation. Its spokesperson, Ana Alarcón, warned that “any misfortune” could occur during the transfer.

Feijóo qualifies Ceuta as "a powder keg" 

In light of what happened during the transfer of immigrants to the port of Ceuta, the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has accused the Government of being unable to maintain public order in the autonomous city for the last 50 days and has stated that the situation in the city is “unsustainable.”

“These gentlemen are not coming to look for a job, they are coming to confront constitutional public order and against the State Security Forces and Corps,” he has stated.

Feijóo has defended that “the only solution is the expulsion and return” of all citizens who remain irregularly in Spain and has maintained that Morocco is willing to accept them.

“It cannot be done worse and Ceuta is a powder keg —we have been saying this for some time— and the situation is unsustainable,” concluded the leader of the PP.

The Government, for its part, considers that the operation has gone well despite its complexity and has described Feijóo's statements as “irresponsible.” The Executive maintains that most of the transfer has been carried out civically, despite the incidents recorded at the beginning of the morning.