Ceuta: Julia Ferreras's car stoned

Apedreggio on a Ceuta Ya! deputy's car!

How can a deputy be confused with an Abertzale group? Very little was needed in Ceuta: a car with three occupants, a city on edge, and a rumor. Julia Ferreras, a Ceuta Ya! deputy in the Assembly of the autonomous city, was traveling in the vehicle when a group attacked and stoned it. The National Police later arrested a Ceuta resident accused of causing damage to the automobile. The facts emerged in the aftermath of the migratory jump at the end of July.

What peine with the deputy's car

The vehicle was approached while its occupants were traveling through the city. Inside, there was no member of the NGO that some present linked it to; there were three people: the deputy, activist Rafael Borrego —a member of the Flotilla to Gaza— and human rights lawyer Sofía Cánovas. The deputy herself condemned the attack. Accounts regarding what each side did before the incident remain contradictory, and none have been definitively proven.

Why was the car linked to the Abertzale group?

The confusion stems from a rumor: the arrival in Ceuta of individuals linked to the Abertzale left-wing, associated with the NGO Negu Gorriak/Derecho a Techo, based in Navarra and presenting itself as defender of housing access 'regardless of methods.' Some present identified the car with this group.

Some maintain that it was not a misunderstanding, but that the crowd was well aware of the deputy and reproached her political position. Opposing this is the argument that it was a failure of identification in an atmosphere of extreme tension. The only certainty is that a private car sustained damage, and the police attribute this damage to a specific person.

80,000 people and two months of tension on the border

The incident cannot be understood without context. Almost two months earlier, at the end of July, an estimated 80,000 people entered Ceuta in just two days. With thousands of migrants wandering the streets, the city became increasingly tense. This is the volatile mix where any spark can ignite: a suspicious car, a rumor, a crowd.

Who is at the center of the episode

Ferreras, a psychologist specializing in gender violence and Secretary of Equality for Ceuta Ya!, entered politics at the adolescent level with Nuevas Generaciones before shifting towards leftist localism and holds one of two seats from her formation since 2023. Her party, led by Fátima Hamed, faces criticism from various fronts.

The other name is Rafael Borrego, flotillist and activist, whom those who consider his presence in Ceuta a provocation have singled out. The reaction afterward was immediate and, above all, highly polarized. The account of what peine inside the vehicle, with the three occupants identified and their backgrounds, is the material that allows for a reconstruction of events.

An incident with two incompatible accounts

The episode serves as a thermometer. For some, it was an unacceptable aggression against a public representative; for others, it was the inevitable consequence of ignoring the distress of an overwhelmed city for weeks. The investigations continue without a firm conclusion.

With these differing views, the unusual thing is not that a car ended up stoned in Ceuta, but that someone still believes that confusing the victim is enough to make the problem disappear.