Police clear Ceuta beach settlement as 1,400 migrants return to Morocco

Eviction of El Trampolín encampment

Spanish National Police cleared the makeshift migrant settlement at El Trampolín beach in Ceuta over two days. The camp had formed following mass border entries on 30 and 31 July, housing between 2,500 and 3,500 people in shacks and tents where stalls sold food and mobile phones. A deployment of more than 350 riot police officers, supported by armored vehicles, began the operation on Sunday at 08:00 under rainy conditions and concluded the first phase at 20:30. Officers resumed the eviction on Monday morning at 08:00, removing the final shacks within three hours before environmental cleanup crews cleared the remaining debris.

Ángel Víctor Torres, Spain's Minister of Territorial Policy, announced the end of the operation on Monday.

After successfully completing the full eviction of El Trampolín without incidents, today all the space occupied until yesterday by migrant settlements has been recovered.

Surge in border returns to Morocco

The clearance coincided with a sharp increase in migrant departures to Morocco. Police figures indicate that approximately 1,400 migrants returned across the Tarajal border post between Sunday and Monday. On Sunday alone, police buses evacuated 1,100 people from the beach, resulting in 900 returns to Morocco and 200 transfers to the El Tarajal identification center. When operations resumed Monday, another 300 individuals were removed, with roughly 200 crossing back into Moroccan territory. Many asylum seekers avoided official processing due to consistent rejections of economic asylum claims, while hundreds escaped into nearby hills or gathered around the Guano factory facilities.

Some returning migrants stated that police presence shaped their choices. Malik, a migrant evacuated during an earlier clearance at Benítez beach on 27 September, described the scene at the border.

They explained some things to us that we have seen were not entirely true. They pressured us, they even said that we could end up going to prison. We had to decide very quickly, there were riot police around, I was scared and we went to the border.

Spain's Ministry of the Interior acknowledged a procedural difference between unassisted voluntary returns and departures involving police intermediation directly following camp evictions.

Port enforcement and judicial inquiries

Authorities reinforced inspection points at the Port of Ceuta to intercept undocumented migrants attempting to reach Algeciras by sea. On Tuesday, National Police arrested a Moroccan driver attempting to board a ferry with a migrant concealed inside a modified compartment under the rear seats. The driver was placed at the disposal of judicial authorities on charges of facilitating illegal migration, while the passenger entered administrative procedures.

Simultaneously, Moroccan border officials increased documentation requirements for Spanish citizens entering Morocco, demanding return tickets and hotel reservations. In Madrid, National Court Judge María Tardón opened preliminary proceedings on 28 September against Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano, the former Government Delegate in Ceuta. The inquiry follows a legal complaint submitted on 17 September by the association Abogados Cristianos, which alleged public disorder and prevarication by omission regarding the border entries of late July.