The two North African cities are only about a mile apart, but there is a huge economic and social gap between them.
Ceuta is located near the northern tip of Morocco and extends into the Mediterranean Sea like a small peninsula. It is a territory of Spain and its inhabitants enjoy all the benefits of membership in the European Union. Compared to Fnideq, the Moroccan city located a little further south along the coast, Ceuta is significantly wealthier. Meanwhile, in Fnideq, economic opportunities for many young people are limited and the future often seems uncertain. In recent days, this division between the two communities temporarily collapsed, when tens of thousands of migrants from Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa set off from the Fnideq area towards Ceuta. The developments attracted the attention of international opinion, including that of US President Donald Trump.
This was just the latest in a complex history that links these two cities. For generations, their residents have coexisted, traded, and maintained family ties, even as politics and disputes between the governments of Morocco and Spain have made the border increasingly difficult to cross.
The recent crisis has clearly demonstrated a reality that governments around the world constantly face in their efforts to curb illegal migration. Economic inequalities continue to push people across borders in search of a better life, often at the risk of their lives.
In more than a dozen recent interviews in Fnideq and Ceuta, almost no one believed that migrants would give up trying to cross the border. “If they opened the border, half of Morocco would leave,” said Abdullah Yusufi, 61, who sold surfboards, foam toys and camaras by the beach in Fnideq. Across the bay, Ceuta was in plain sight. When asked if he had ever sold equipment to migrants trying to cross the sea, he shrugged. “I don’t ask people what they’re going to use it for,” he said.
The Moroccan government considers Ceuta to be occupied Moroccan territory and has, from time to time, imposed border restrictions to put pressure on Spain. However, Ceuta has been under Spanish administration for several centuries. Its approximately 84 inhabitants are Spanish citizens; many of them came from mainland Spain, while others are of Moroccan origin, maintain family ties in Morocco, speak Moroccan Arabic, and are Muslim.
DETERMINATION OF THE BORDER
For many years, Moroccans living near the border could enter Ceuta without a visa. Some participated in the city’s summer festivals, while many others bought goods duty-free to resell in Morocco. This trade, although often considered tolerated smuggling, was an important source of income for both businesses in Ceuta and the economy of Fnideq and the surrounding areas.
“The amount of money flowing into this part of the country was extraordinary,” said George Bajalia, a professor of anthropology at Wesleyan University who has studied the border for years. According to him, the situation changed after Morocco built a large port complex nearby. Then the authorities restricted informal trade coming from Ceuta. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the border was completely closed and, even after reopening, this form of trade was not allowed to resume, damaging the economies on both sides of the border. As a result, the economic gap between Ceuta and Fnideq widened even further, pushing more and more residents of the Moroccan city and surrounding areas to seek a future in Ceuta.
“For decades, people built their livelihoods on this trade, but it disappeared in a short time,” Bajalia said. “Thousands of people who earned their living from border activity have not yet found an alternative for employment.”
Today, to enter Ceuta, Moroccan citizens must obtain a visa, a document that many of them fail to obtain. At the border crossing, Spanish and Moroccan authorities control the movement of people and stamp passports. At his fabric stall in the Fnideq market, 60-year-old Alami El Makrini says that he used to go to Ceuta several times a week to supply his shop with goods. That is no longer possible.
“When the state decided to close the border, it harmed small traders and did not give us any compensation,” he said. According to him, many traders have been forced to take on debt to survive, while some market workers were among those who left their jobs last week to try to enter Ceuta illegally. “They can no longer even earn a minimum income for daily life,” he said. International attention focused on Ceuta a few days ago, when around 72 migrants, encouraged by posts on social media falsely claiming that the border was open, headed en masse towards Spanish territory. Over the weekend, most of them, left without food and water, returned to Morocco or were repatriated by Spanish security forces.
According to Spanish authorities, at least 75 migrants lost their lives while trying to cross the border. Most drowned in the waters of the Gulf.
The dramatic images of such a large and rapid influx have sparked debate across Europe and beyond. Right-wing politicians have used the situation in Ceuta as the most extreme example of the dangers they see as uncontrolled migration. US President Donald Trump has described what happened in Ceuta as “an invasion of a country” and used the incident to attack his Democratic opponents ahead of this year’s midterm elections. “The same thing is going to happen to us, and worse, if the Republicans don’t win the election,” Trump said during a cabinet meeting.
STILL IN TENSION
After the crisis, life in Ceuta was gradually returning to normal. Residents strolled through the well-maintained squares and wide boulevards of the city center, among bars, restaurants and shops selling beachwear and lingerie. However, tensions remained. Within hours, a fight broke out that appeared to be related to the migration issue, while in a grocery store, several citizens called the police after a migrant entered to buy food.
Khadija Saghero, 17, was one of the migrants who managed to enter Ceuta last week along with her sister, Widad, 16. In an interview in Ceuta, she said this was her fourth attempt to reach Spanish territory. “I just wanted to leave,” said Khadija, who had just finished high school. “We saw the stairs to happiness,” her sister added. According to Khadija, the fog at night and the large number of people swimming to Ceuta helped them avoid detection by authorities. After arriving, they bought new clothes and fixed their hair, hoping to blend in with the city’s residents without being noticed.
Now, she said, they intend to stay hidden to avoid being stopped by authorities. Then they hope to find a way to continue their journey to mainland Europe. “We want to go to mainland Spain,” she said.
In the predominantly Muslim neighborhood of El Príncipe, young men carrying plastic bags with few personal belongings walked the narrow streets in ill-fitting sandals, suggesting they had recently arrived. Many of them would soon learn that entering Ceuta did not mean the right to stay, and that crossing to mainland Europe remained just as difficult.
In an interview, Juan Jesus Vivas, the mayor of Ceuta, appeared as shocked and confused as other residents by the events of the past few days. “The people of Ceuta are experiencing a state of deep sadness – a mixture of pain, anger, helplessness, fear, worry and anxiety,” he said. “Everyone is asking themselves: ‘Could this happen again?’” He said that between 3 and 5 migrants who entered last week were still in Ceuta. He added that local authorities were also caring for around 1.200 unaccompanied minors, a number that exceeded the city’s accommodation capacity by around 2.500 percent. “What happened clearly showed how vulnerable Ceuta’s border is,” he said.
Enrique Avila, a retired political science professor and former Spanish military officer who served for more than three decades in Ceuta and Melilla – another small Spanish territory in North Africa – said Ceuta’s identity has been shaped by its long history of threats from its neighbors.
“This is a city full of emotions because throughout its history it has felt threatened and isolated,” he said. Avila rejected claims that the Spanish territories in North Africa are a relic of the past. According to him, a state does not necessarily need territorial continuity to exercise sovereignty. “If that were the case, Northern Ireland would not be part of the United Kingdom and Alaska would belong to Canada,” he argued. “Even Hawaii is very far from the continental United States,” Avila added.
(Taken from the New York Times)