Spain approves 309 million euro aid package for migrant crisis in Ceuta

Ceuta, Madrid. Spain's government has approved an aid program worth 309 million euros for its North African exclave of Ceuta, which has been hit by a mass influx of migrants. The left-wing government in Madrid said the funds should flow this year. According to government figures, the aid package for the exclave with around 83,600 inhabitants, which is smaller than Frankfurt Airport, corresponds to 16 percent of Ceuta's gross domestic product.

According to Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, around 72,000 migrants swam from Morocco to Ceuta or climbed over border fences on July 30 and 31. There had previously been false reports on social media that people would not be sent back if they reached the exclave by swimming.

Most of the migrants returned to Morocco within hours. A month later, according to government figures, there were still around 5,000 migrants in the area, including 1,200 minors. Some of the locals are demonstrating increasingly angrily against the presence of so many migrants for weeks and accusing the government of having abandoned the exclave. Some locals also used violence against migrants.