Ceuta cats vanish amid migration crisis; PACMA silent

Ceuta’s cats vanish while PACMA stays silent

The feral cat colonies in Ceuta are disappearing, and the party that claims to protect animals has not said a word. Data from local associations is alarming: 65 registered feeding stations, dozens of missing cats, and an institutional void fueling all suspicions. However, reality is more complex than the headline suggests: many viral images spreading on social media are outdated or from other locations.

65 registered colonies and dozens of missing cats

The autonomous city of Ceuta maintains a census of 65 feral cat colonies across the municipality. According to reports by The Objective, after nearly three weeks of migration pressure, caregivers stopped seeing dozens of animals. No one knows if they died, moved, or were eliminated. Caregiver Pedro Toro described how, early Tuesday morning, he was alerted that one of his cats, Andrés, had been found dead near a colony. Authorities and veterinarians are perplexed, and animal welfare groups openly speak of murder, though without conclusive evidence.

The image war: between pavor and hoax

Social media has circulated everything: poisoned, beaten, or container-trapped cats. Image verification, however, has debunked several cases. The photo of a white cat in a container corresponds to a poisoning incident from last year in a Canary Islands town. The image of a brown cat next to a stone is from Balaguer, also from last year. The association DAUBMA had to respond to information requests from El Español newspaper and other entities like ASACIA, issuing a statement asking for unverified material not to be shared. The existence of hoaxes does not prove nothing peine; it only shows that media noise is poisoning an issue requiring investigation, not easy headlines.

PACMA, the big absentee in the controversy

The question titling this article is common in public discourse: Where is PACMA? The animalist party, which usually leads abuse complaints, has made no official statement about events in Ceuta. Explanations vary: some see them as an uncomfortable left-wing ally with dominant migration narratives, while others note the party lacks real presence in the autonomous city. Regardless, the silence is telling. Animal defense should not depend on political convenience, and here it is showing its seams.

An overwhelmed city and a debate just beginning

The context doesn't help. Ceuta has spent weeks dealing with massive entries from Segarro, with municipal services stretched thin. In this scenario, animal welfare has taken a back seat. Some caregivers justify this: if resources are insufficient for people, there will hardly be budget for cats. Others, however, denounce that the migration excuse is covering up a silent cleansing of feral colonies.

The underlying question remains open. If demographic pressure does not stabilize, it is predictable that Ceuta's feral cat colonies will continue to shrink. But the storm of hoaxes could also bury a real problem. The only certainty so far is that cats keep disappearing without anyone taking responsibility. And PACMA certainly won’t be the one to do so.