Violence breaks out in Ceuta as migrant crisis continues

Clashes have broken out in Ceuta, with protesters setting fire to migrant belongings on the beach A month after tens of thousands of migrants entered the city of Ceuta, a Spanish exclave in North Africa, there have been outbreaks of violence as tensions mount between locals and foreign arrivals. The Spanish government has been accused by opposition parties of struggling to manage the crisis effectively. Ceuta's residents have complained of feeling unsafe on the streets, as well as expressing concerns about the burden being placed on public services. At least 72,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into Ceuta on 30 and 31 July. Most swam around a border fence and at least 100 people died during the mass crossing, according to figures from Ceuta's mayor. José María Figaredo, a member of Congress for Vox, is being investigated for a possible hate crime after saying, soon after the migrants' arrival, that they should be "hunted down, one by one". Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told a congressional committee: "We have heard during these weeks rhetoric and comments that contribute to the stigmatisation of immigrants and which feed social division at a moment when what we need is responsibility and statesmanship." Javier Celaya, who represents Ceuta in Congress for the PP, accused the government of treating "the invaders as victims when the real victims are us, the people of Ceuta". Defence Minister Margarita Robles also apologised to those in Ceuta who "may have felt, or who even still feel, abandoned or not sufficiently cared", as the government unveiled plans to overhaul the country's immigration laws. Much of the recent ill-feeling in the city appears to be driven by government plans to move migrants into existing public buildings, such as sports centres, in order to be able to process their legal status in an orderly way and return those not eligible for asylum to Morocco. Politicians on the right and the far left have accused Morocco of involvement, pointing to its alleged use of the border with Spain in the past to exert political pressure.