MADRID, Spain – Hundreds of Ceuta residents gathered on Sunday on the Juan Carlos I esplanade, three kilometres from the border with Morocco, to march from there to El Tarajal in defence of the city’s Spanish identity and the protection of its territory. The mobilisation was called by the Provincial Federation of Neighbourhood Associations, which planned to read a manifesto at El Tarajal to demand the defence of the Ceuta border, with representatives attending the gathering carrying a European defence flag that served to open the procession, followed by a banner reading SOS Ceuta invaded.
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More than 200 people gathered on the esplanade with flags of Ceuta, Spain and Europe, chanting slogans including “delegate, resign” and “tyrant, scoundrel, you are not a caballa,” in reference to the government delegate whose dismissal has been demanded in citizen protests since the start of the crisis. The crowd began marching escorted by several National Police vans and soldiers at around noon, with a motorcycle rally also convened at the same time that converged on the Tarajal border.
“Un caballa nunca se rinde” was one of the most repeated slogans during the neighbourhood march, which preceded a new motorcycle rally through the city. The loud motorcycle procession started at the central Alcalde Sánchez Prados promenade and arrived at the border, including a tribute to the Legion on the occasion of its 106th anniversary, a military force closely linked to the autonomous city.
The gatherings on Sunday add to the event held by the Citizen Forum for Assistance to Ceuta on Saturday in front of the Government Delegation headquarters in Plaza de Los Reyes, where a neighbourhood encampment also remains to raise awareness of the situation on beaches such as El Trampolín. Both on that beach and on Benítez beach, further from the city centre, thousands of migrants remain camped in numerous improvised shacks and tents on the seafront, having failed over recent weeks to secure any of the places enabled in the temporary reception centres distributed across Ceuta.
Una columna de miles de ceutíes se dirigen y bloquean la frontera de Ceuta con Marruecos exigiendo la deportación de los invasores.
— Javier Negre (@javiernegre10) September 20, 2026
Ceuta ya no aguanta más, es un polvorín. pic.twitter.com/E6TPyGah8v
The European Union also occupied a central role in the messages delivered during the mobilisation, with participants chanting “Europe, listen, Ceuta is your fight” on several occasions, in line with the content of the manifesto prepared by the federation. In the manifesto, the federation says it is addressing public opinion, national institutions and the international community to raise its voice in defence of the land, citizens and territorial integrity of Ceuta, describing the situation as an invasion and denouncing a systematic violation of borders colonised by others’ inaction.
The pamphlet also includes thanks to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for her words of support for Ceuta during her intervention before the European Parliament on the State of the European Union debate, in which she said the Ceuta border is a European border because Ceuta is Spain, Ceuta is Europe, and Europe will be there for them. The federation also demands the recovery of calm in the neighbourhoods, stressing that Ceuta is not a camp, and calls for an end to policies that in its assessment could generate a pull effect.
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The federation concludes its manifesto by stating that Ceuta citizens have demonstrated extraordinary resilience and serenity and warning that the patience of its citizens has a limit, demanding security, respect and that words of institutional support be translated into forceful actions to protect their land. The mobilisation forms part of the successive protests held in Ceuta over recent weeks following the migration crisis and the pressure on the border.
