Tens of thousands attend right-wing protest over Ceuta migrant crisis

What the report says

Thousands of people gathered in Madrid on Saturday to protest the Spanish government’s handling of irregular migration and a recent influx of migrants into the North African enclave of Ceuta, according to Al Jazeera. The rally was organised by the right-wing civil society group Sociedad Civil Espanola and supported by the conservative People’s Party and the far-right Vox party.

The demonstrators accused Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government of negligence and of failing to protect Ceuta’s borders. They called for an early general election, and Vox also demanded that Sanchez be tried for treason. Al Jazeera reported that the government estimated attendance at about 20,000, while organisers claimed 180,000.

The protest follows a major surge at the end of July, when more than 70,000 migrants entered Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco before most were returned. Al Jazeera said thousands remain stranded there, with the Spanish government estimating between 6,000 and 10,000 still in the enclave. Sanchez has said Moroccan border controls were inadequate and that an investigation is under way.

The dispute has become a significant political issue in Spain, feeding opposition criticism of migration policy and border management. Spanish media also reported that the government may move to speed up returns from Ceuta to Morocco, though that detail was not independently verified in the supplied text.