Ceuta's adult reception centre is operating at nearly double capacity after almost 1,000 migrants reached the Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast between 1 January and mid-February 2026.

The Temporary Centre for Immigrants (CETI) holds roughly 1,000 people against a built capacity of 512, according to Spanish Ministry of the Interior data cited by InfoMigrants. The ministry logged nearly 1,000 arrivals, including 100 minors, since the start of the year — a 600 percent increase over the same period in 2025, when 137 people reached Ceuta.

What is the scale of the surge?

Spain relocated 123 migrants from Ceuta to mainland regions on 17 February alone, part of an accelerated transfer effort. Local authorities have converted garages and sports halls into makeshift sleeping quarters, even though the city acknowledges the spaces fall short of safety regulations.

The minors' shelter in Ceuta is similarly overwhelmed. As of early February, more than 350 unaccompanied children were held in a facility designed for 81. About 65 percent of them have since been moved to emergency shelters elsewhere in Spain.

What conditions are migrants facing?

The Spanish nursing union SATSE described the centre as having reached a "critical level" in a press release on 14 February. Inspectors found migrants sleeping several to a mattress in poorly ventilated, poorly lit rooms, with cigarette ends and food waste on the floor.

"There is major overpopulation, which creates significant risks, like scabies epidemics and the propagation of various sicknesses," SATSE Ceuta spokesperson Elisabeth Muñoz said. "People should be treated with dignity; this means not piling them in a garage like boxes."

SATSE added that nurses are treating patients in the improvised garage spaces with inadequate medical supplies. Staffing is thin:

• Two nurses cover morning shifts during the week, alongside a doctor and a caregiver.
• Only one nurse remains on duty for afternoons, nights, weekends and holidays.

The Workers' Commissions Union (CCOO) in Ceuta echoed the warning on 11 February, calling the overcrowding a "deterioration of fundamental norms which should be required in a reception center." Staff across health, nursing, security, catering, translation, maintenance and legal services work under "extremely difficult" conditions, the union said.

Why have arrivals jumped?

Ceuta and Melilla remain the only two land borders between the European Union and Africa. Moroccan researcher Ali Zoubeidi told InfoMigrants that unstable weather and repeated sea storms have driven more crossing attempts in recent weeks. Storm Harry and floods, he said, kept Moroccan security forces occupied and opened windows for migrants to try.

Spanish Civil Guard officers are "overwhelmed," according to the Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC). "The influx is daily," AUGC secretary in Ceuta Rachid Sbihi told Europa Press. "The pressure is enormous, both on land and at sea."

Because the land border is heavily militarised, more migrants now attempt the sea route. Strong currents and rocks line the short crossing, and at least 40 people died in the past year swimming around the Tarajal seawall using wetsuits and fins, compared with 24 the year before.

How are authorities responding?

Madrid is redistributing adults to mainland regions and clearing minors into emergency shelters, while the nursing and workers' unions press for more staff and compliant facilities. The Ministry of the Interior has not announced an expansion of the CETI site itself.

Spain's two North African enclaves continue to function as a pressure valve for sub-Saharan and Moroccan migration. Crossing patterns are now year-round rather than seasonal, according to AUGC, leaving both reception infrastructure and border personnel under sustained strain.