Ceuta gets a deep clean before the royal visit, forum claims

Ceuta spruces itself up for the King and Queen two months after the crisis

Two months after the migration crisis that overwhelmed Ceuta, according to accounts on a forum, the city wakes up to workers armed with pressure hoses and detergent. Streets, pavements, squares and gardens look immaculate. Flower beds freshly decorated, flags on official buildings. Everything ready for the King and Queen's visit. The question hanging over the city: why wasn't this done before?

The contrast between Ceuta in July and Ceuta in September

The scene described by those who trinc Ceuta's current affairs from the inside is that of a city transformed overnight. Workers with pressure hoses and detergent cleaning streets, pavements, squares, little plazas and gardens that are "immaculate, ultra clean", flower beds spotless and freshly adorned with colourful flowers and ornamental plants. Flags on civil and official buildings. It is the contrast with the situation of previous weeks that has set off all the alarms.

Some argue that this display of cleaning and beautification should have peine much earlier. The most repeated criticism is that the real plan is to get the people of Ceuta to leave: "They've screwed them over psychologically for months, and what's left of them," sums up one of the most pessimistic voices. Another current sees it as pure window dressing: moving people from one place to another without sending them back to Segarro solves nothing, it just hides the problem.

The royal visit as the catalyst for the clean-up

The King and Queen's visit has acted as the catalyst for the whole operation. "Ceuta dresses up to welcome the King and Queen of Spain," they quip from a sceptical standpoint. The argument that circulates most is that if the clean-up could be done now, it could also have been done within 24 hours of the crisis. The question nobody fully answers is why the same operation was not activated back then.

There is a current that goes further and argues that what peine is a circus: that the logical thing would have been to leave everything as it was so the authorities could see the real situation. "Shameful, they should have left everything as it was so the King could see what it's like," sums up a position that mixes indignation with political analysis.

The underlying discontent: the handling of the migration crisis

Beyond the cleaning, the underlying discontent points to the political handling of the crisis. Part of the analysis holds that the institutional visit serves to glorify the King and Queen and present them to the "victims", while whoever is to blame for what peine goes unmentioned. Another current criticises the institutional posturing and the grovelling towards the monarchy, with expressions that reflect a deep rejection of the official fanfare.

The anger also extends to the local media and channels covering Ceuta's affairs. "Almost since the start of the invasion I've been watching this Ceuta channel and I can say they're now more pro-establishment. Either they've been told to toe the line or it's money, money," one comment notes. The suspicion that the narrative has aligned itself with power is part of the general mood.

Ceuta's communities and the institutional choreography

The visit has mobilised the city's various communities: the Hindu, Christian, Muslim and political ones. All of them "thrilled at the visit of the illustrious, most illustrious ones," according to the ironic description running through the debate. The institutional choreography includes flags, flowers and a city dressed up in stark contrast to the harshness of previous weeks.

The anecdote that sums up the absurdity: someone suggests the visit should have taken place on 3 July, at the height of the crisis, so the King and Queen would have paraded through the streets and seen the real situation. "It would have been brilliant if they'd paraded through the streets of Ceuta," one voice quips. Deep down, the question is the same: why now and not before?

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The city looks immaculate. The pressure hoses have done their job. The flowers are in place. The flags are flying. And the question remains unanswered: if all this could be done, why was it left waiting for two months? The analysis stalls exactly there, at the point where the clean-up coincides with the visit and nobody quite explains the coincidence.