Spain has processed the return of 8,243 people from Ceuta since the end of July 2026, according to a monitoring report released on September 29 by Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Víctor Torres.

What triggered the current operation?

Spanish police began transferring hundreds of migrants from a makeshift settlement at Benítez beach in Ceuta to the Tarajal warehouses on September 26, 2026. The Tarajal site now functions as a Temporary Center for the Care of Foreigners (CATE), where arrivals undergo registration before further processing.

The clearance targets informal camps set up after more than 70,000 people crossed from Morocco at the end of July 2026. Authorities cited safety concerns, including the beach's proximity to a desalination plant and the open space needed for excess water runoff ahead of autumn rains. Some migrants had already lost their shelters to heavy rainfall.

How many people have been processed?

Torres published the following figures in a September 29 monitoring report:

• 2,493 minors in the regional child protection system (172 more than the previous week)
• 213 minors relocated to mainland Spain: 69 via family reunification, 144 transferred to different autonomous communities
• Triage for adults reached 3,220 (674 more than the previous week)
• 8,243 people returned, of whom 7,794 returned voluntarily and 449 were classified as expulsions

Immigration and Border Services added 96 officers, allowing more than 100 triage assessments per day. Between 25 and 30 percent of those assessed decided not to apply for international protection, the ministry said.

Why are unaccompanied minors protesting?

About 100 unaccompanied Moroccan teenagers gathered on Trampolín beach earlier this week to demand transfer to a children's center. They held banners reading, "We only want one thing. That Spain protects minors," and chanted, "We want a minors' center!"

The teens cite falling night temperatures and the onset of seasonal rains. Police transported juveniles from the Trampolín area for identification on September 26 to facilitate admission to Ceuta's child-protection facilities.

A study published in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry examined 230 unaccompanied boys aged 15–17 in residential care in Catalonia. About 57 percent were Moroccan. Researchers linked perceived discrimination to greater psychological distress, with some 21 percent of participants reporting depressive symptoms.

What is Spain asking from the European Commission?

On September 17, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska asked the European Commission for legislation to accelerate return and asylum procedures. His ministry also announced €114.7 million in emergency funding for reception, processing and border measures in Ceuta and Melilla.

News agency Reuters reported on September 29 that a draft Spanish decree would allow authorities to override standard migration procedures and tighten rules on asylum seeking for migrants who arrived in Ceuta in July. If passed, the decree would speed up applications and deportations for the more than 10,000 migrants still in the territory.

What political pressure is the government facing?

The opposition Popular Party and far-right Vox have made Ceuta a rallying point against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, framing migration as destabilizing to national security. Addressing the UN General Assembly on September 23, Sánchez rejected that framing:

"I know that, at times like this, it's tempting to take the easy way out. Giving in to fear, treating migrants as enemies and flouting the law.. But my country, Spain, isn't going to do that."

Under Sánchez, Spain has emerged as an outlier within the EU's hard-line stance against irregular migration, after mass regularization drives for undocumented residents. How he manages the Ceuta aftermath will test that policy posture.