Evacuation of El Trampolín beach

Spanish authorities deployed approximately 350 National Police officers on Sunday morning to clear the makeshift migrant settlement on El Trampolín beach in Ceuta. The operation commenced at 07:30 with support from military personnel, armored vehicles, and the Guardia Civil, which contributed divers and three patrol boats to monitor coastal waters. Police officers equipped with helmets and riot shields escorted camp residents onto buses directed toward the Tarajal border crossing. The coordinated clearance concluded at sunset after relocating more than 1,100 people into official reception channels. The coordinator of the Single Command for the crisis, Minister Ángel Víctor Torres, addressed the operation on Sunday evening.

It has allowed the evacuation of a large part of El Trampolín beach, to the point that 1,100 migrants have been transferred to regulated resources, and it was done without significant problems.

Registration and voluntary returns

Upon arrival near the Tarajal border area, evacuated migrants faced two options: register at the Temporary Foreigners Assistance Center (CATE) for shelter placement, or walk back across the border into Morocco. A considerable proportion chose voluntary return after assessing that they would not qualify for international asylum protection. Border monitoring recorded nearly 600 voluntary returns into Morocco by 19:00 on Sunday. For those choosing to register, authorities expanded the Loma Colmenar facility to provide between 300 and 400 places, while preparations continued at the Caballería camp. Municipal environmental teams worked alongside the police operation, removing 61 tonnes of accumulated waste from the shoreline.

Living conditions and health risks

The El Trampolín camp was the largest remaining beach settlement in Ceuta, housing an estimated 3,000 to 3,500 people in structures built from scrap wood and tarpaulins. Although the Red Cross distributed daily rations of food and drinking water, sanitation on the beach deteriorated over two months of continuous occupation. On Friday, environmental tests identified E. coli bacteria in coastal waters near the encampment, posing gastrointestinal risks to residents who bathed and washed utensils in the sea. The settlement had also experienced unrest, following demonstrations in Ceuta where protesters set fire to tents and migrants' personal belongings. Earlier in the week, authorities completed the full clearance of the nearby Benítez beach camp.

Diplomatic stakes and upcoming royal visit

The clearance of El Trampolín precedes a scheduled visit on 13 and 14 October by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, marking the monarch's first journey to Ceuta and Melilla since his 2014 accession. The visit involves sensitive diplomatic dynamics because Morocco maintains sovereignty claims over both Spanish autonomous cities in North Africa. The wider crisis originated on 30 and 31 July, when more than 70,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, resulting in over 100 maritime deaths. While the majority returned shortly after the initial crossing, an estimated 10,000 migrants remain across Ceuta. Local authorities established a deadline of 15 October to fully clear El Trampolín and seal the beach.