Spain takes control of Ceuta port to erect migrant tent camp over local objections

Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente signed an order placing the port of Ceuta under central government control, clearing the way to build a provisional tent camp for migrants in the port zone. The decision overrides the position of Ceuta's regional administration led by Juan Jesús Vivas, which opposed the installation. The regional government cited the port's role in supplying the exclave and noted the proximity of a large fuel storage facility.

The local administration had previously rejected housing migrants in an unused factory, a former military hospital, and local sports centres. A separate camp designed for around 900 people is under construction in the Los Rosales district, where local residents staged protests. According to government figures, roughly 72,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into Ceuta at the end of July by swimming or scaling border fences. While most returned within hours, about 5,000 people, including 1,200 minors, remained in the exclave roughly a month later.