Javi Fuentes, a reporter for the Spanish morning television programme Espejo Público, has given a firsthand account of the six days he spent in Ceuta during the city's most tense period, describing stampedes, looting and a city he considered completely overwhelmed. He said the experience had been the biggest madness he had lived through in his life.
Fuentes arrived in the Spanish autonomous city on a Thursday night, just hours after a stampede had begun, and settled into an apartment close to the CETI so he could follow the situation closely.
Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa that borders Morocco and has long been a flashpoint for irregular migration into Europe. The CETI, or Centro de Estancia Temporal de Inmigrantes, is the facility where migrants who reach the city are temporarily housed while their cases are processed. Espejo Público airs on weekday mornings on the Antena 3 network.
Sleepless nights near the border
Fuentes said his accommodation gave him a privileged vantage point on events, but it also meant nights spent almost entirely awake, kept up by the sound of sirens, stampedes and clashes with police carrying through his window. He said going outside became unpredictable and that a constant sense of insecurity marked the first hours after he arrived.
A city plunged into chaos
He described his arrival as landing in a city consumed by chaos, with bonfires burning in the streets and people climbing onto rooftops in search of food.
Fear among Ceuta's residents
Fuentes said the situation also caused deep fear among residents of Ceuta, who tried to protect their own streets as large numbers of people arrived. He described young people attempting to get into homes, streets that were completely packed, and residents calling for help in a situation he said had overwhelmed any capacity to respond.
Stampedes and looting broke out in supermarkets, he said, while some residents chose to stay locked indoors rather than risk going outside. He added that even Moroccan citizens who had lived in Ceuta for years were taken aback by what was happening.
'Completely taken over'
After six days on the ground, Fuentes summed up his experience by describing a city he considered completely taken over, marked by avalanches of people and a lack of security. He said the experience allowed him to understand the fear that many residents of Ceuta felt during those days.
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