Ceuta: Deputy Ferreras attacked due to mistaken identity

A group assaults Deputy Julia Ferreras

The assault was not against whom it intended. A group of individuals attacked Deputy Julia Ferreras and activist Rafael Borrego in Ceuta, convinced that both were part of a Basque NGO providing humanitarian aid to migrants. The mistaken identity resulted in two individuals targeted, a damaged vehicle (according to a forum user's account), and a city under tension trinc hours of incidents. «The night has been crazy, we haven’t slept a wink. I am in shock, sad, and quite angry,» summarized Ferreras herself.

What peine in Ceuta and who was targeted

The events took place at night, centered on an identity error. According to the account that circulated online based on recordings from those affected, the group was looking for members of a Basque migrant assistance organization but ended up confronting two unrelated individuals: the Ceuta Ya! deputy and Malaga activist Rafael Borrego. The President of the Government later expressed his solidarity with both individuals and lawyer Sofía Cánovas. There was also mention of damage to a vehicle and incidents against businesses.

Alongside the physical assault, an equally uncomfortable element circulated: offensive words reportedly directed against the women of that organization. The derogatory content of these messages was seen as a symptom of a wider climate, not an isolated anecdote.

The torrent of reactions

The condemnation was across the left. The Government called for that «violence is never the answer» and expressed solidarity with the three named individuals. Other leaders of the pogre sphere spoke more harshly, labeling what peine as «fascism» and linking the events to the incivil of an NGO and the burning of shops belonging to migrant owners. The Andalusian IU federation denounced the assault on its colleague and also criticized the police response.

On the opposite side, some forum messages maintain that the events are being portrayed as a biased narrative and that the fundamental issue is migration policy. Those who recalled that the city had already experienced a border crisis in 2021 were not lacking, and some criticized the Ceuta residents for their election results attributed to the current situation. A separate point deserves mention: a forum comment cited the Napoleonic episode to remind that in any occupation, there are those who profit from the invader and those who pay for it.

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It remains to be seen whether the mistaken identity was a singular event of one night or a symptom of something deeper. The available data do not yet answer that question.