The residents of Ceuta took to the streets again this Friday to protest against the possibility of the Government opening a new reception space for migrants at the Poniente Pier, next to two population centers. The mobilization occurs a day after residents of the Parques de Ceuta and Junta de Obras del Puerto neighborhoods already demonstrated against said measure.
Since 7:00 p.m., more than a hundred residents have gathered to show their rejection of the site. Some of the residents interviewed by TVE have reported problems of unhealthiness and situations of insecurity and have claimed to be afraid of the situation that the city is going through.
During the concentration, attendees have demanded "agile and effective returns now" and have defended that the material and human efforts aimed at welcoming the thousands of migrants who remain in the city be directed to strengthening triage services and the processing of asylum applications. Their objective, as they have stated, is to streamline procedures and facilitate the returns to Morocco of those who do not have the right to remain in Spain.
Many minors participated in the protest with flags of Ceuta and Spain and with banners that read "I need to be a child in my city" or "Agile and effective returns now", against the presence of immigrants on the streets.
The protests began this Thursday, when residents took to the streets against the provision of two spaces at the Poniente Pier for the bagging of immigrants. The protesters demand from the Government Delegation more clear information, transparency and open dialogue before making a final decision.
This Friday, in addition, residents have begun collecting signatures against the project, according to El Faro de Ceuta. The neighbors argue that the projected space is too close to their homes and the Ortega y Gasset school and remember that there is important commercial activity and fuel tanks in the area.
The day has also been marked by protests against another reception space planned next to the Nuestra Señora de África Nursery School, in the Los Rosales neighborhood. In this enclave, tents for the provisional reception of migrants have begun to be installed since Thursday, a decision that has caused the rejection of parents of children enrolled in the nursery.
The relatives have expressed their concern about the possibility that hundreds of migrants will be concentrated in the vicinity of the school and have once again demanded that the administrations look for other alternatives to enable the necessary resources. Neighbors, families of students and teachers gathered early this Friday to try to stop the works and managed to stop the work for several hours, until the National Police convinced them to vacate the place.
This Friday's mobilizations have been added to the protests that have been taking place for several weeks in different parts of the city against the installation of provisional reception resources. Every time a new location emerges, residents of the affected area take to the streets to show their rejection of the decision, a situation that is making it difficult to find spaces to get the thousands of migrants who remain in Ceuta off the streets.
This scenario has led the governments of Spain and the Autonomous City to maintain greater discretion over the new sites that are being studied or enabled to reinforce reception capacity.
