Camp clearances and border returns

Spanish national police operations on the Benitez and El Trampolin beaches have cleared informal coastal encampments, accelerating departures from the autonomous city of Ceuta. Cleaning crews removed 61 tonnes of waste on Sunday and 160 tonnes on Monday as El Trampolin was emptied within 48 hours. Government records from La Moncloa indicate that roughly 11,000 migrants who crossed during the mass entry have returned to Morocco since 10 August 2026. That total includes fewer than 500 formal returns executed for legal infractions. More than 2,500 people departed Ceuta during the week of the police clearances. Following the eviction of El Trampolin, between 800 and 1,100 migrants crossed back into Morocco to avoid transfer to the Tarajal temporary reception centre.

Disputed departures and camp conditions

While authorities classify most departures as voluntary, evicted migrants in Morocco describe being removed under pressure. During the operation at El Trampolin, dozens of police vans and an armored vehicle surrounded the encampment before interpreters from the non-governmental organization Engloba addressed the residents. Taha, a 21-year-old Moroccan barber who had lived in Ceuta for 65 days after swimming across the border, said evacuees were told they were boarding buses to a state facility.

They are saying everywhere that it was voluntary. I have seen it in El Faro de Ceuta. The police are saying it. It is not true. They threw us out. They told us there was no other option.

Some displaced individuals have since congregated at El Guano, a squatter settlement adjacent to El Trampolin where dozens of minors live without sanitation near sewage outlets entering the sea. Volunteers reported that clearance operations for El Guano appeared imminent following the police action on adjacent shores.

Dispersal into neighbourhoods and capacity limits

Police representatives warn that dismantling beachfront sites has scattered unregistered migrants across residential areas and forested hills. The Sindicato Unificado de Policia identified approximately 100 suspected clandestine shared flats, known as pisos patera, operating across the enclave. Officers require judicial warrants to enter private dwellings, slowing tracking efforts.

An empty beach does not mean that the Ceuta crisis is resolved.

The central government currently maintains 7,400 places for adults across 10 reception facilities, housing about 6,000 people. Many individuals refuse official registration or abandon the shelters to avoid identification. Ceuta authorities have registered 2,566 minors, while hundreds remain uncounted on streets where charities and state services distribute roughly 1,000 daily meals.

Official estimates and disinformation

Divergent assessments persist regarding how many migrants remain in the city from the mass crossing on 30 and 31 July 2026, when approximately 80,000 people crossed the border. La Moncloa estimates that 9,000 migrants remain in Ceuta across shelters, streets, and clandestine rentals. Ceuta President Juan Jesus Vivas places that number at approximately 15,000.

Alongside demographic tensions, false reports have proliferated across social messaging platforms. The European Union-funded Iberifier observatory documented approximately 100 hoaxes related to Ceuta over the past two months, including false claims of tunnel crossings and contaminated drinking water. Ramon Salaverria, a professor of journalism at the University of Navarra and coordinator of Iberifier, evaluated the volume of fabricated content.

In magnitude and dimension, it has been the most significant episode of disinformation after the autumn 2024 DANA.