Spain's ombudsman opens an own-initiative inquiry into the humanitarian situation in Ceuta after more than 70,000 people crossed the El Tarajal border on 30-31 July
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On 13 August 2026 Spain's national ombudsman, the Defensor del Pueblo, announced an own-initiative inquiry (actuacion de oficio) into the measures taken and still pending to respond, in a coordinated way, to the humanitarian crisis in the autonomous city of Ceuta after more than 70,000 people crossed the El Tarajal border irregularly on 30 and 31 July. The institution wrote to the State Secretariat for Migration, the city of Ceuta, the Attorney General's Office and the Government Delegation in Ceuta. It asked the State Secretariat about the situation of people who remain in Ceuta, many of them minors, who it says sleep outdoors because the temporary immigrant stay centre (CETI) is saturated and no other reception spaces exist, and it forwarded complaints it received about conditions that include a lack of drinking water, showers and hygiene items. The ombudsman notes that many unaccompanied minors are still unidentified and hiding in the city, and says it is especially concerned about girls not yet taken into the child-protection system, since, according to several media reports, one has allegedly been sexually assaulted. It asked the Attorney General's Office and Ceuta for information on the steps taken to protect them. The inquiry is ongoing and the page states no findings.
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