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Spain’s government plans to allocate €165 million to Ceuta’s recovery, an emergency package of measures that will be approved this Tuesday by the Council of Ministers, one month after the mass arrival of migrants in the autonomous city.
The sum will be added to the medium-term recovery plan worth €180 million, according to local media, in a move previously announced by First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo.
The new package aims to revive the local economy and strengthen public services after a crisis that has disrupted activity in the autonomous city and shaped the start of the new political year. Of the total, €80 million will be channelled into Ceuta’s economy over the next four months, and another €70 million is earmarked for 2027.
In all, €150 million will go into direct economic support over the next year and a half. Of that, €35 million will be devoted to direct aid for small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed, while another €15 million will be used to boost trade and tourism, sectors that were particularly hard hit in August.
The Council of Ministers also plans to allocate 15 million to strengthen education, healthcare and the justice system in Ceuta — three of the areas that have been at the centre of public demands in recent weeks.
One month on from the crisis
The migration situation continues to shape the city’s recovery. One month after the events of 30 and 31 July, around 5,000 of the roughly 72,000 people who entered irregularly remain in Ceuta, while efforts continue to open new reception facilities and speed up return procedures.
In that context, the Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, who heads the single command created by the government of Pedro Sánchez to deal with the crisis, has pledged that all migrants who entered the country irregularly will be returned to Morocco.
“Our intention is that all of them are returned, everyone who entered between the 30th and 31st, in accordance with the law,” Torres said in remarks broadcast by RTVE, referring to the “approximately” migrants who, he said, “remain on the streets” of Ceuta.
The government considers the emergency package separate from the 180 million euro plan, which is structural in nature and currently being negotiated with business organisations, trade unions and representatives of different sectors of the city.