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

Demonstrators are demanding early elections and accuse Pedro Sanchez’s government of negligence.

Demonstrators hold a banner reading 'state of siege and deportation now' during a protest against the Spanish government's handling of a migrant influx into Ceuta [AFP]

Thousands of people have rallied in the Spanish capital to protest the government’s policy on irregular migration and its handling of a recent migrant influx into the North African enclave of Ceuta.

Saturday’s protest in Madrid was organised by right-wing civil society group Sociedad Civil Espanola and backed by the mainstream conservative People’s Party (PP) and far-right Vox.

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According to the government, 20,000 people attended, while protest organisers put the turnout at 180,000.

At the end of July, more than 70,000 migrants stormed into the autonomous Spanish city of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco, before most of them were returned. However, thousands remain stranded .

Demonstrators accused Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his government of failing to protect the borders of Ceuta.

They are calling for an early election to be held by mid-November, with Vox demanding Sanchez be tried for treason. Spain’s next general election is not due until August 2027.

PP’s secretary-general Miguel Tellado said there was a “widespread feeling that the government has not acted responsibly; there has been a dereliction of duty, extreme negligence”.

“Spanish society has to take to the streets to ask the government to defend our territorial integrity,” he added.

The July 30 and 31 surge of people into Ceuta led to unprecedented scenes and the deaths of dozens of migrants.

Sanchez said on Tuesday that Moroccan border control failed to adequately handle the incident and that an investigation was still under way, adding that Rabat had been asked for answers.

The Spanish government estimates that between 6,000 and 10,000 stranded migrants remain in Ceuta.

Vox leader Santiago Abascal is demanding that everyone who arrived in late July be deported to their country of origin.

Abascal said Ceuta remained “invaded because Sanchez continues to be Morocco’s servant”.

Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on Saturday that the government is planning to approve a decree on Tuesday to accelerate the return of migrants from Ceuta to Morocco.

The protest is the second under the March for Dignity banner. That demonstration was held in late May before the incident in Ceuta and attracted 40,000 protesters, according to the government.

示威者要求提前举行选举，并指责佩德罗·桑切斯政府玩忽职守。

示威者举着写有“立即进入围城状态并驱逐出境”的横幅，抗议西班牙政府处理涌入休达的移民问题。[法新社]

数千人在西班牙首都集会，抗议政府的非法移民政策及其对近期涌入北非飞地休达的移民潮的处理方式。

周六在马德里举行的抗议活动由右翼公民社会团体西班牙公民协会组织，并得到了主流保守派人民党（PP）和极右翼政党Vox的支持。

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政府方面称有 2 万人参加，而抗议组织者则称有 18 万人参加。

7月底，超过7万名移民从邻国摩洛哥涌入西班牙自治城市休达，之后大部分人被遣返。然而，仍有数千人滞留。

示威者指责总理佩德罗·桑切斯及其政府未能保护休达的边界。

他们呼吁在11月中旬之前举行提前大选，Vox党还要求以叛国罪审判桑切斯。西班牙下一次大选要到2027年8月才会举行。

人民党秘书长米格尔·特拉多表示，“人们普遍认为政府没有尽到责任；存在渎职和严重疏忽”。

“西班牙社会必须走上街头，要求政府捍卫我们的领土完整，”他补充道。

7月30日和31日，大量人口涌入休达，导致前所未有的混乱场面，数十名移民丧生。

桑切斯周二表示，摩洛哥边境管制部门未能妥善处理这起事件，目前调查仍在进行中，并补充说已要求拉巴特方面作出解释。

西班牙政府估计，仍有 6000 至 10000 名滞留移民留在休达。

Vox党领袖圣地亚哥·阿巴斯卡尔要求将所有在7月下旬抵达的人遣返回原籍国。

阿巴斯卡尔说，休达仍然“被入侵，因为桑切斯仍然是摩洛哥的走狗”。

西班牙《国家报》周六报道称，政府计划于周二批准一项法令，加快从休达返回摩洛哥的移民。

这是第二次以“尊严游行”为主题的抗议活动。据政府称，第一次示威活动于五月下旬在休达事件发生前举行，吸引了四万名抗议者。