Spain asks EU border agencies for help amid Ceuta migrant surge
Spain's government asked the European Commission for assistance from Frontex, Europol and the EU asylum agency to manage the migrants remaining in the enclave of Ceuta, and local officials called for urgent measures to restore order. The National Security Council later classified the situation as a matter of national security, assigning emergency command to the territorial policy minister and increasing funding for local authorities. The government also expressed regret to Ceuta residents and announced new immigration measures that centralise crisis management under national authorities. Madrid said it will draft legislation to align Spain's immigration rules with the EU Migration and Asylum Pact.
Authorities continue to shelter and process up to 10,000 migrants in Ceuta, with local officials criticizing the national response as inadequate. Spain's police union reported several confirmed cases of sexual assault involving migrant minors, prompting an expansion of emergency accommodation for vulnerable girls. The government prepared an urgent transfer of about 500 unaccompanied migrant girls from Ceuta to the mainland, while several autonomous regions declined to receive them and the EU backed their return to Morocco.
