{"id":2275,"date":"2026-08-02T18:38:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T18:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=2275"},"modified":"2026-08-02T18:38:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T18:38:54","slug":"in-ceuta-some-migrants-cling-to-hopes-of-someday-reaching-mainland-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=2275","title":{"rendered":"In Ceuta, some migrants cling to hopes of someday reaching mainland Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CEUTA, Spain (AP) \u2014 Dikra, a 20-year-old migrant from Morocco, had spent five days in Ceuta<\/span> by Sunday after swimming to the Spanish territory<\/span> with her younger sister and cousin.<\/p>\n

Read more Israel says it has serious concerns with Hamas disarmament deal<\/a><\/p>\n

Since then, all her meals have come from local residents, and she isn\u2019t sure when her next one will come. Yet Dikra is certain she does not want to go back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to stay. I want to go to Spain,\u201d Dikra said, who asked that her last name be withheld for safety reasons. <\/p>\n

By Sunday afternoon, Dikra was among the last remaining migrants in the city after tens of thousands<\/span> of the 60,000 migrants that had breached the border with Morocco on Thursday and Friday walked back to that country. At least 72 people died in the crossing, and the humanitarian crisis the sudden rush of people caused reignited a debate around immigration in Europe and beyond.<\/p>\n

In Tangier, Dikra said she worked as a cleaner, but decided to leave alongside her sister and cousin, in part to escape her alcoholic father. She hopes to make use of a hairdressing diploma in continental Spain \u2014 from which she remains separated by the Strait of Gibraltar and the European Union\u2019s complex asylum system.<\/p>\n

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Abdel Karim, 35, also from Morocco, waited outside Ceuta\u2019s official migration reception center on Sunday, asking for updates about what officials were saying they would do with the holdouts still in the city.<\/p>\n

Karim was unemployed in Morocco, and had lived in continental Spain years ago, before he was expelled from France where he was living on the streets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Morocco, I\u2019m seen as a deportee,\u201d Karim said. \u201cThose who are deported know what it means \u2014 stress, depression, anguish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Ceuta grapples with aftermath of border surge after most migrants leave the Spanish territory<\/a><\/p>\n

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Karim said he saw posts on social media about those making the crossing and took advantage of the chaos. He crossed with 10 euros in his pocket, he said, and pointed to his blistered feet. In Spain, Karim said he wants to do whatever work he can find, and remained unfazed about how he would get there.<\/p>\n

Ceuta and its sister city Melilla are not part of the European Union\u2019s Schengen area, and those traveling to mainland Europe must go through border checks upon arrival.<\/p>\n

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At a beach nearby, hundreds of migrants who had arrived days earlier gathered on Sunday evening. Some crowded around an army truck where Spanish soldiers distributed water. <\/p>\n

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