The Police clear a massive queue of immigrants on the outskirts of Ceuta

More than a thousand immigrants had been queuing for 10 days, like teenagers before a superstar's concert, at the doors of a large parking lot on the outskirts of Ceuta. There the Army has deployed large tents, so the boys' objective was to obtain one of the long-awaited places where they could wash, eat and spend the night. Although, in essence, their main incentive was the widespread - and false - rumor that those who accessed the site would obtain papers to stay in Europe via the express route.

This Monday, however, the Police forcibly removed this massive queue. The riot police had to fire deterrent shots into the air due to the resistance of the young people. Then, they set up a police cordon in the area, while cleaning teams collected hundreds of kilos of garbage accumulated after so many days of waiting in Loma Colmenar.

"They were bothering the neighbors at night, with brawls, robberies and even sexual assaults at night," says a senior local police officer. "I estimate that there have been around 5,000 migrants in this neighborhood. A real outrage."

Until the great migratory wave a month ago, this esplanade was used for vehicles that were going to cross into Morocco to wait for their turn to arrive and thus avoid traffic jams on the border itself. The facility has been equipped by the Government so that migrants stop sleeping on the street and can access food, water or basic hygiene measures. Its first occupants settled there 10 days ago, in 25 large tents equipped with bunk beds.

The tents were completely occupied in a matter of hours, mainly by people who were sleeping in shacks on the famous Trampolín beach. However, the places were scarce and, hence, the enormous queues that formed in the surrounding area, as the immigrants saw the work that was being carried out to expand the facilities.

This morning, the Army set up a large white tent and allowed a few hundred immigrants to enter, but the majority were left outside. Hence the nervous scenes among the young people, which exploded when the National Police dispersed them. "We had to shoot in the air, but it wasn't very problematic," police sources say.