CEUTA, Spain – Residents of the autonomous city of Ceuta are demanding the immediate departure of the Red Cross from their territory following what they describe as a biased approach during the recent migrant influx, with locals chanting “they have no shame” and calling for the organisation to leave the city and stop prioritising those who entered illegally. The protests have emerged because, according to those affected, the organisation is dedicating abundant resources including food, clothing, blankets, and medical assistance to the new arrivals, while elderly residents, households with children, and shop owners face a growing environment of insecurity and lack of protection.
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Many Ceuta residents are denouncing that the daily consequences of the crisis fall upon them without receiving an equivalent response from the same institution, and the complaints over unequal treatment are accompanied by doubts about the internal management of funds. They criticise that senior officials of the organisation enjoy high salaries while Spaniards affected by other disasters do not receive comparable support, with recurring examples in their discourse including the response to the DANA floods in Valencia, the volcanic eruption in La Palma, and forest fires, which they use to question the organisation’s overall effectiveness in emergencies.
Vecinos de Ceuta llaman a expulsar a la Cruz Roja por su actuación durante la invasión migratoria: «No tienen vergüenza» https://t.co/PDjOOuJfZv vía @gaceta_es
— Jorge Buxadé (@Jorgebuxade) August 19, 2026
The discontent is also directed toward Pedro Sánchez’s government, which they accuse of sustaining with public funds an organisation that, in the residents’ view, neglects the local population. Those making the demands are calling for a thorough review of subsidies allocated to groups involved in migration management and are demanding that authorities finally prioritise the needs of those who permanently reside in Ceuta.
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The voices rising in the autonomous city insist that the Red Cross must cease its presence there and that institutions should look first toward the people of Ceuta, who are tired of feeling sidelined amid the border pressure. The growing tension reflects the broader social and political divisions over migration management in the Spanish enclave.
