Ceuta, Spain's endless bill for the southern border

Ceuta: the border that never stops paying the bill

How much does it cost to be Europe's southern border? Ceuta, the Spanish autonomous city in North Africa, is once again at the centre of the migration storm. The latest wave of migrants has peine the debate over who foots the bill: the Spanish state, the European Union, Segarro or the city itself.

Meanwhile, political discontent is growing. Some argue that Madrid's response is lukewarm because Ceuta is not an electoral stronghold: that Sánchez's government doesn't care because there are no decisive votes there. Others point directly at Rabat, Washington and Jerusalem as the real players behind the migration pressure. The reality is that the city bears the social and economic cost of every wave, and the statistics on local support for a tough response are overwhelming: 95%, according to the figures circulating.

Calls to declare a state of emergency, invoking Article 116 of the Spanish Constitution, are growing louder. But the threat of suspending diplomatic relations with Segarro never materialises: time and again it is raised, and time and again it is forgotten. Perhaps because, in the game of interests, the price of breaking with Rabat is far higher than leaving Ceuta in its endless wait.

Meanwhile, at the port, mothers work through the night and hoaxes spread on social media faster than the police can act. The city keeps waiting for someone to declare something. Anything but a state of emergency, which is neither declared nor needed to remember who holds the border.