Ceuta prosecutors refer migrant minor abuse allegations at El Tarajal centers to court
Ceuta prosecutors transferred formal complaints of physical abuse and sexual threats at El Tarajal youth centers to a judicial court after eight Moroccan minors escaped.
Allegations in El Tarajal reception centers
Judicial authorities in Ceuta have received formal complaints regarding alleged mistreatment, physical abuse, and sexual threats against unaccompanied Moroccan minors housed in reception facilities. The adolescents arrived in the Spanish autonomous city in late July 2026 and spent over a month in informal accommodations, including spaces organized by residents at the El Príncipe soccer field and Sidi Embarek. In early September 2026, authorities transferred the girls into converted industrial warehouses in the El Tarajal industrial park. These two adjacent centers operate under the administrative guardianship of the Ceuta autonomous government and are managed by two separate entities, SAMU and Engloba. Shortly after their arrival at the new facilities, several minors reported that staff subjected them to systematic verbal humiliation, denial of medical assistance, physical beatings, and threats of deportation back to Morocco.
Accounts of abuse and escapes
The situation led eight teenage girls to flee the El Tarajal centers during mid-September. On 10 September 2026, two male security guards allegedly entered the girls' sleeping quarters, woke them up, and directed explicit sexual insults and rape threats at them. On Tuesday, 15 September 2026, three girls escaped together, presenting visible bruises that were subsequently photographed for police reports. On Wednesday evening, 16 September 2026, additional girls fled to the El Príncipe soccer field, where local residents and legal advocates assisted them. Nezha, a 17-year-old Moroccan girl who fled the facility with a severe bruise on her thigh, described the conditions inside.
They call us whores constantly, they beat us, and they punish us if we ask to use the mobile phone or for a pillow.
Nezha further explained that staff routinely ignored medical distress among the residents.
When we have a health problem, they do not take us to the doctor, and they insult us so that we endure it. There is a girl who is still inside, and even when she vomited blood they did not assist her.
- Unaccompanied Moroccan minors arrive in Ceuta
- Minors are relocated from community camps to El Tarajal facilities
- Security guards allegedly enter sleeping quarters and make sexual threats
- Three minors escape the facility and photograph physical injuries
- Additional girls flee to El Príncipe, bringing total escapees to eight
- Girls testify to police; youth services replace two male guards and identify an educator
- Prosecutors confirm case referral to court and opening of protection files
Legal actions and administrative response
Ahmed Enfed-Al, president of the El Príncipe Neighborhood Association, witnessed the arrival of several distressed girls who arrived crying at the local sports facilities. A journalist and a lawyer present at the scene accompanied the minors to file formal reports with the National Police.
They said they were insulted, that very strong words and very bad language had been said to them.
Following formal declarations on Thursday, 17 September 2026, Ceuta's youth protection services intervened directly at the El Tarajal warehouses. Authorities identified the two male security personnel named in the complaints, relieved them of their duties, and replaced them with female staff, while also identifying a female educator accused of physical assault. The Juvenile Prosecutor's Office opened individual protection files for the affected teenagers and transferred the case files to the competent court. Prosecutors stated that the referral to the judicial court was made for functional and organizational reasons to avoid duplicate investigations and manage the public prosecutor's elevated workload. Representatives from both SAMU and Engloba declined to comment on the allegations.
