Two angry men, fists raised, in the streets of Ceuta. It is a contemporary portrait of what is happening in the autonomous city. There are angry eyes. There is unease. Rage. Finbarr O’Reilly’s image evokes a painting by Goya. One known as Fight with Cudgels, from his darkest period, the Black Paintings. The genius from Fuendetodos portrayed hatred by sinking two men between the earth and fury. A couple of centuries later, the scene seems to have repeated itself at the border with Morocco. On the edges of a Spanish territory that saw more than 70,000 people arrive, bypassing police controls. Almost doubling its population. In the case of the painting, violence turned into a symbol. In the photo, documented as a real event. A latent threat that does not cease on the other side of the fence…
Academics call what is happening weaponization of migration, an English expression that can be interpreted as “instrumentalization of migration as a weapon.” One of the most important theorists is Kelly M. Greenhill, an authority who holds a doctorate from MIT, is a professor at Tufts, and a researcher at Harvard. She analyzes the use of migratory waves. She titles her seminal work: Weapons of Mass Migration. A book that Pedro Sánchez and Marlaska should read, especially when they thank Morocco for its cooperation.
“PUNISHING SPAIN”
Greenhill wrote precisely about the Ceuta case. In the Washington Post she published a text titled: Morocco used migration as a weapon to punish Spain. She wrote it after what happened on May 17, 2021, when “it provoked a migratory wave against Spain in retaliation for the Spanish decision to admit Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front, for medical treatment,” as Greenhill points out. “Morocco’s actions… involved a ‘controlled forced migration,’ a relatively common strategy. Since 1951 alone, this type of migration has been attempted at least once a year on average. Of the cases my research has uncovered, more than 60% were carried out for political reasons, as in Ceuta.”
That is what she wrote when more than 10,000 people entered that city of 84,000 inhabitants. Five years later, that figure has been shattered.
“Regardless of whether Morocco gets what it wants, its true victims are the migrants and refugees themselves. Unfortunately for these victims, we can expect increasingly instrumentalized migration in the future.” Her prophecy seems to be coming true with more than 140 dead. And the threat remains uncontrolled before an overwhelmed government.
HUNT
Against the official version of calm and passivity, the Ceutans themselves, from their social networks, are telling what they are really suffering. These are accounts of citizens who previously used them to share their daily lives, now using them to denounce the tragedy. Pedro Sánchez, in a letter to Von der Leyen, argued that they managed “to return practically all migrants who crossed irregularly and prevent any unauthorized movement towards continental Europe.”
A statement that neighbors like Juan Antonio Montoya Ruiz say is false. With videos as proof. This athlete walks with his phone through the once quiet streets of his city and openly calls it an “invasion.”
The “normality” he shows is thousands of newcomers making coexistence “unsustainable,” in his words. He recorded the video on Friday, August 7. He is not offensive towards migrants, sometimes only making panoramic shots of the streets. The chaos, the filth, the walls turned into latrines are openly visible… From his account, he denounces that his “city cannot cope.” Because of his fight, he is one of those targeted by Moroccans on both sides of the border.
The target placed on him in the virtual world has been repeated with more Ceutans. El Pikas de Vendetta has also denounced harrowing situations. Such as “they break into people’s houses with machetes” and “rapes.” He has also ironically criticized Pedro Sánchez for the mob that has arrived.
They call him “traitor” because his origin is Moroccan. The name of this electrician, tiktoker, and rapper is Azeddine El Ouzzani Touhami. “Threats come from Belgium and the Netherlands,” countries where the Mocro Mafia operates. He has repeatedly stated on camera that a price of “27,000 euros” has been put on his head.
“I wish the men from the north [of Morocco] would enter. Not a single dog of your kind would remain there without being stripped, having a gun pulled on them, having a baton pulled on them… I swear they would cut your legs off,” is one of the many savageries they say to them. Also the warning that Spanish cars “will be burned” if they enter their territory. “Moroccans from Belgium and Holland fear nothing. They will come there with a red passport… They will grab your mothers…”. And so on.
In one of Juan Ruiz’s latest posts, some smiling immigrants are seen walking through Ceuta. Thumbs up. They say in Spanish: “It’s Morocco.”
ESPIONAGE AND CHAOS
Is there a threat of espionage via Ceuta? For decades, it has been a hot spot for espionage by the Alaouite kingdom. And Spanish counterintelligence services also operate in the autonomous city in response. Did Moroccan secret services take advantage of the arrival of 72,000 immigrants to sneak into Spain? “Those responsible for video surveillance monitoring, in collaboration with the high command of the Civil Guard, were able to easily identify members of Moroccan intelligence, even in the first hours of last Thursday, July 30,” states categorically El Español. It is not unusual that this happened. It is considered a “conventional” situation for an exceptional circumstance. Among thousands bypassing border security controls, State Security Forces and Corps analysts discovered them through powerful surveillance cameras. They could do no more.
Read more Defense orders cancellation of permits for military personnel in Ceuta starting August 13
The National Intelligence Center (CNI) has been targeted by Marlaska, who denies having had a warning. “Interior had dossiers warning that the Supreme Court ruling could encourage a massive crossing of people,” EL MUNDO has published. The threat was latent, since after a Supreme Court ruling, migrants entering by swimming can no longer be returned hotly. The Civil Guard warned of the risk of a pull effect for this reason… and because of massive regularization. “They also warned of the weaknesses of Tarajal, easy to cross by swimming.” The Interior Minister, still groggy, has only been able to deny these reports.
The Corriere della Sera, appealing to Italian espionage, raises the alarm level: “The Islamist terrorist threat in Ceuta is real. And there is a brain behind the social mobilization… Fears are clearly expressed that mass migration also involves recruitment and radicalization.”
Through unofficial sources, CNI agents have also confirmed that they fully validate the campaign warning that on August 15 a new attempt to cross the border massively is being prepared. Ceuta remains under siege.
THE 15-A ALERT
Social networks are the territory where battles for information among migrants are fought. Those used before July 30 have undergone a transformation or disappeared. This mutation has occurred to avoid agent control. They abandon Facebook to join less controlled communities. They do not hesitate to use forums or pages dedicated to football… and then migrate to private Telegram and WhatsApp channels.
No one dares to anticipate what will happen on 15-A or subsequent dates. The 72,000 of 30-J have destroyed any estimate. As the day approaches, riot police, elite Civil Guard divers, boats, drones… are being mobilized. Everything that was not done at the end of July… The mentioned social networks, as well as TikTok, are monitored to try to anticipate their movements. But on both sides of the border, it is known that success depends on Mohamed VI’s decision.
It is unpredictable.
CRIMINALITY
The death toll already exceeds 140. Crime has skyrocketed. There is despair among immigrants for having nowhere to sleep, after being deceived by mafias, the indifference of border control by Morocco, and the siren songs of social networks. They were promised everything and have nothing but the sky as a blanket. Attempts to enter homes and even schools multiply, according to the Ceutans themselves.
Some roam the streets with knives, trying to get easy money. The police arrest them, but they are overwhelmed. Girls, in tears, show their fear of sexual violence. It has already leaked that at least six cases are under judicial investigation. EL MUNDO has repeatedly denounced it: “Several men abused a girl, I left the house and started screaming.” A drama.
They have just sentenced a Moroccan — who entered with the crowd — to two years in prison for entering a house and lying on the bed of a stunned woman. He will not serve the sentence because he will be returned to his country. “He has been previously convicted three times for sexual assault crimes and also has an administrative expulsion order from the national territory issued by a court in Valencia,” emphasizes El Faro.
This case exemplifies the absolute lack of control. And it is only a brief sample of what Ceuta is suffering.
P.S. The original name given to Goya’s painting is Two Strangers. What a paradox.
“There is no normality”
There is no normality in Ceuta. I myself witnessed today, at 5:30 in the morning, an altercation with a girl. Basically, she was returning home after going out at night. There was a lot of taró in Ceuta. That thick fog in summer is normal. They were bothering her and I, well, intervened as soon as I saw it. I did it as quickly as I could. And I ran after one. I feared he would escape and I didn’t hesitate and threw my backpack on the ground. Then, the agents intervened and did what they had to do.
This is to point out that, simply, normality does not exist. It does not exist and that is why I share my content so people know. They lie. There are still more than 10,000 people in Ceuta… The government is selling us out. There is no normality here, normality does not exist, but a Ceuta that has adapted to what is currently happening. Ceuta still needs answers and resources. It cannot continue to feel abandoned.
I am only giving voice to my city and letting it reach everyone.
