Incident in Loma Colmenar, Ceuta: police charges and shots in the air after a massive attempt to access the reception center

The National Police intervened this Monday morning in Loma Colmenar, in Ceuta, after hundreds of North African immigrants who remained camped outside the reception tents tried to access the interior of the enclosure en masse.

The situation has forced the deployment of a large police force, which has carried out charges to contain the concentrated people and has fired deterrent shots into the air with the aim of controlling the situation.

The incident occurred after some immigrants managed to enter the Loma Colmenar bagging center. The access of these people has caused those who had been queuing outside for hours to try to advance simultaneously, generating an avalanche in which the immigrants themselves have ended up pushing and fighting each other.

Given the increase in tension, the agents have intervened to separate some of the protesters and contain the situation. Subsequently, the police force began to evict the people who remained outside the premises from the area, many of them after having spent the night there.

The National Police has blocked the road and has deployed troops at the entrances to Loma Colmenar to prevent the concentration from continuing to grow. The agents have tried to disperse the immigrants, who have had to leave the area with their belongings.

Transfer from Trampolín beach

The origin of this concentration is found in the transfer of hundreds of immigrants from Trampolín beach to the Loma Colmenar bagging esplanade. The Government has enabled this space to accommodate part of the people who remained in the coastal area, but as the days have passed, other immigrants have moved to the surrounding area with the intention of gaining access to the facility.

This Monday around 400 people were able to enter, according to the information provided about the device. Once the planned capacity was reached, the people who remained outside also tried to gain access, which ended up triggering the incidents.

The esplanade has become an improvised camp in recent days. The immigrants have spent the nights there, occupying the surroundings of the compound and spreading along the access road. The concentration has also generated discomfort and conflicts in the vicinity of the residential areas of Loma Colmenar and the University Hospital of Ceuta.