Everyone can choose the cliché they like best: “a powder keg,” “a barrel of dynamite,” “a dry mountain about to burn”… Each and every one of them is repeated when the people of Ceuta try to describe the tension that is poisoning their environment. Its 84,000 inhabitants watch as their small city, proud of the traditional coexistence between multiple cultures, gets entangled in a toxic spiral that no one seems able to stop.
So far, the most feared scenario has not occurred: a large-scale outbreak of violence, as happened in Torre Pacheco (2025) or El Ejido (2000). However, the city has already accumulated five consecutive days of “low-intensity” violence that worries law enforcement. We are talking about attacks by immigrants against the Army, yes, but also dozens of sexual assaults, shots fired into the air to disperse crowds, or attempts of racist attacks against newcomers.
These episodes pose an intense risk of quickly escalating into serious riots, according to the diagnosis of citizen security experts analyzing the city’s evolution. “If the people of Ceuta are exhausted, imagine how these kids feel,” says a veteran of immigration services, alarmed by the events of the past week. “The more normal ones have already left, while here the worst of each household stay.”
The expert also resorts to the well-worn “powder keg” to describe the city’s mood: “Little by little, the money they brought from Morocco is running out. For them, recharging their mobile phone balance is a vital necessity, which can lead them to do foolish things… In short, it is a matter of time before a tragedy happens.”
Frustration breeds violence and there are already four documented cases of assaults against military personnel, on consecutive days since last Thursday. That day, in the Benzú area, a patrol was ambushed with large stones thrown at their vehicle. In total, the incident resulted in four soldiers injured and, that same night, the arrest of 12 suspects.
That attack coincided with the most tense moment in relations between immigrants and neighbors. That afternoon, about fifty Ceutans organized a sit-in to prevent the daily food distribution carried out by Red Cross. Minutes later, a group of agitators broke through the police cordon and burned three of the Moroccan shacks, a scene whose images have gone around the world.
The next day, Friday, an Army patrol reported the throwing of bottles with corrosive liquid. Police sources clarify that these were not the traditional Molotov cocktails, with high incendiary potential, typical of anti-system groups. This attack was carried out with homemade devices mixing aluminum foil and industrial cleaning products, available in any supermarket, which generate clouds of toxic gases and corrosive liquid.
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Precisely, these bottles have been involved in another of the recent attempts of violence. Last Thursday, a loud bang was heard as a demonstration of neighbors against the “invaders” passed by the Benítez beach. Minutes later, Ceutans’ WhatsApp groups were filled with photos of one of these devices which, according to their version, caused the ‘bang’ at the gathering. A group of youngsters tried to chase the alleged attackers through the city’s alleys, but the riot police acted in time to prevent the situation from escalating.
In the early hours of the 29th, in the Chorrillo beach area, another military patrol suffered an ambush with stone throwing. In this case, there was only one injured: a sergeant with minor injuries. Security forces arrested four suspects, including a minor, after the soldiers’ call for help.
Finally, on Sunday afternoon, the Civil Guard arrested three immigrants after throwing bottles of corrosive liquid at an Army patrol. The soldiers were unarmed and did not carry protective equipment, a characteristic situation of this deployment. Sources familiar with the events say the attack was “planned,” although there does not seem to be a stable structure linking all the attacks against Army vehicles.
At the same time, crime is increasing. The Equality department confirmed yesterday 21 sexual assaults in the last month, five of which involved penetration and nine were committed against minors. Theft has also increased: for example, two Moroccans remain in prison after stealing money and documents from a neighbor’s house.
The only stable solution is to remove immigrants from the streets. So far, only 3,300 have a stable place to spend the night, while the identification process advances at a desperately slow pace. “We process barely 40 or 50 a day”, says a source from immigration, who warns: “Those who are staying are those who have nothing to lose. We have to tackle the situation now.”
