Ceuta, two months on: a city paralyzed between the expulsion and return of migrants
Two months after the massive migrant crossing, the city is bracing for social tension and wondering when migrant deportations will begin.
Ceuta, two months later: a city paralyzed between migrant expulsion and return. Khadija and Saber, both crossing the Moroccan border at the same time, do not meet. She enters Ceuta, he returns to Morocco. Ultimately, both face the same push factor: rain. Saber, 17 years old in August, reached the Trampolín beach, still retaining some of the dream that drove him to cross the sea.
He believed it would only take a little more perseverance. Days later, he decided that if this mission wasn't accomplished in two months, he would return to Castillejos. In the end, it was not 60 days, but 58. Saber approaches the border checkpoint of El Tarajal and glances at his phone, but does not look back. "Sad? No, I'm tired.
But I will try again," he says. He vanishes across the border with a small backpack, signing the voluntary return form like the over 7,000 individuals whose official statistics indicate they have embarked on this foot-return journey.
Written by urgent.news from El Pais's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
