At least two Spanish military officers in Ceuta had to be transported to mainland Spain to receive further medical attention after sustaining serious injuries caused by some of the invading illegal migrants that remain in the embattled city.
Recurring attacks against Spanish military officials are but one in a litany of consequences left by the unresolved migrant invasion of Ceuta, a Spanish North African exclave whose inhabitants have had their peaceful lives dramatically worsened over the past six weeks after tens of thousands of migrants invaded the city.
Although the majority of the over 70,000 invading migrants left the city in the immediate days after the chaotic events, thousands are said to still remain within the city, some of which are now being housed in “temporary” shelters set up by the Spanish socialist central government.
Unlike National Police officers, Spanish laws do not consider military officials as “agents of authority,” heavily restricting some of the actions that they may conduct to preserve law and order outside of very specific circumstances, such as a situations where there is a real risk against the life of a person.
“Something they wouldn’t dare do in Morocco, here they know they can get away with it,” an unnamed military source told ABC. “We aren’t law enforcement officers, which is something we need to be once and for all.”
“When we patrol alongside police officers or Civil Guard officers, we don’t usually have any problems. They are authorized to ask for identification, conduct searches, or carry their service weapons. They are respected,” the source continued. “On the other hand, when we patrol on our own, in groups of four to seven members, that’s when we run into trouble. Only one of us is authorized to carry a service weapon and use it in an extreme case of self-defense, of course.”
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The source, expressing their frustration, told ABC, “Right now, it is free to attack a military in Ceuta.”
The attacks from migrants, which military officials have repeatedly denounced for weeks, have resulted in at least two known cases of military officials sustaining serious injuries during the first half of September.
The outlet El Español, citing police sources, detailed that one of the two known attacks occurred on the early morning hours of September 12, when a military vehicle was patrolling through the streets of John XXIII coastal neighborhood in southern Ceuta. At the time, the sources explained, military officials observed a group of migrants who entered the city during the invasion in an apparent state of intoxication.
The officials approached the group — however, the migrants reportedly refused to cooperate, with one of the migrants attempting to break free and flee. In the struggle, the migrant managed to shove one of the military officers, who fell and crashed into a concrete breakwater, breaking a fibula and dislocating his shoulder.
Per the source’s testimony, the rest of the officers immediately assisted their fellow official, who screamed in agony. The man was swiftly evacuated and admitted to a local hospital. Four days later, he was transferred to the Gómez Ulla Military Hospital in Madrid, where he underwent surgery to have a nail placed on his broken fibula.
The sources pointed out to El Español that it is “very difficult” to chase and catch anyone in the breakwaters because “once they get in there, there’s nothing we can do because there are nook and crannies underneath.”
Spanish outlets reported that the second known incident took place on September 9. At the time, migrants assaulted a military official, leaving him with a dislocated knee. He was reportedly transferred to mainland Spain to receive treatment alongside the other injured official.
The Spanish Defense Ministry acknowledged the now-recurring violence against military officials in a brief social media post, which reads, “Our military, always professional, close, and committed to Ceuta.”
“All our support to the injured in these weeks, some even admitted to Gómez Ulla Hospital, after being victims of assaults while carrying out their work,” the text continued.
Rather than being two isolated incidents, other military sources told El Español that migrant attacks have become much more common, including throwing stones against military vehicles.
The Spanish Troops and Sailors Association (ATME) explained to El Español that the situation has incurred in a significant psychological pressure and tension for the military in Ceuta, given that the city is small and “migrants have them on their sights,” causing further uneasiness on the officials when they are off-duty and are going on with their lives with their children and relatives.
Despite the continued deterioration of Ceuta’s livelihood in the weeks following the invasion, socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez affirmed earlier this month that the thousands of migrants that remain in Ceuta are not invaders, but rather, innocent people “seeking a better life.”