Spanish Police Clear Ceuta’s Largest Migrant Camp

Chris Dalton · 2026-10-04T13:20:12.957Z

Clearing the camp makes sense for health and safety with so many people crammed into tents, but Spain needs a real plan to handle the arrivals without straining Ceuta further.

Spanish Police Clear Ceuta’s Largest Migrant Camp — Photo: Hosny salah / Wikimedia Commons (Pexels)

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Spanish police surrounded El Trampolín beach in Ceuta before dawn on Sunday, October 4, 2026 and launched Operation Trampolín to clear the enclave’s largest migrant camp. Officers moved tent to tent dismantling shelters while an interpreter explained in Arabic where people would go; some migrants ran for the hills. Cleaning teams cleared the site afterward. Migrants were bused to Tarajal CATE for identification; the first bus left shortly before 9:00 a.m. Space stood ready at Loma Colmenar for more than 1,000 and at the port. Interior Minister Angel Victor Torres set October 15 as the deadline to finish the eviction. CONTESTED: Higher Police Headquarters puts camp numbers above 3,500; other sources cite about 3,000, with a wider range of 1,500 to 4,000. Police cited E. coli in surrounding seawater among justifications. This was the third clearance in recent weeks after two at Benítez beach. More than 72,000 crossed from Morocco in late July; at least 10,000 remain among Ceuta’s population of about 80,000. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia are scheduled to visit Ceuta and Melilla on October 13-14, Felipe’s first visit to the enclaves in 12 years. Rated coverage in the record is left-only.

Spanish Police Clear Ceuta’s Largest Migrant Camp

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