More than 5,300 migrants have voluntarily returned to Morocco from Ceuta, Spain's small territory on the northern tip of the African continent, the Spanish government announced on Sunday. Migration Minister Ángel Víctor Torres confirmed that 5,321 people had left since 10 August, while 90 others had withdrawn requests for international protection. Nearly 1,000 more are currently being registered to complete their return procedures.

The departures follow an unprecedented mass influx at the end of July, when more than 70,000 people crossed into Ceuta — a Spanish enclave of roughly 80,000 residents bordered by Morocco — in what became the largest single migration event the territory has ever experienced. Most returned to Morocco within hours, but thousands remained, setting off a prolonged crisis. Authorities have had to screen each individual to determine whether they qualify for asylum, a process that cannot be bypassed for unaccompanied minors, who under Spanish and international law cannot be summarily deported.

The exact number of migrants still in Ceuta remains disputed. The territory's conservative local leader has estimated that around 13,000 people remain, while the national government places the figure significantly lower — somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 according to various estimates. To accommodate those still present, authorities are expanding shelter capacity, with a new reception centre for 864 people opened on Sunday, bringing current capacity to around 4,300 places, with a target of 6,000 in the near future.

The lingering presence of migrants has generated visible anger among Ceuta's local population. Near-daily protests have taken place, with residents complaining of people sleeping on beaches, in public parks, and in vacant lots across the city. Episodes of violence have been reported on both sides, with some migrants denouncing xenophobic attacks against them. Ceuta's local president has gone further, describing the July influx not as a migration crisis but as a full-scale invasion, and calling for a fundamental reassessment of Spain's relations with Morocco.

The situation is placing mounting political pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government, which stands accused by critics of having ignored intelligence warnings ahead of the July surge. With elections on the horizon, the government's strategy of processing asylum claims in a stable environment has so far failed to calm tensions on the ground, leaving Ceuta caught between an unresolved humanitarian caseload and an increasingly restless local population.