Ceuta tears up its equestrian centre to house migrant camp

What does a small city like Ceuta, Spain, do when it urgently needs space to shelter hundreds of people? Tear up the main arena of the Equestrian Centre, recently refurbished with an investment of around 200,000 euros. Heavy machinery has already begun dismantling it to set up a camp of reception modules and tents amid the migration crisis.

The move leaves hippotherapy and rehabilitation services for children with special needs grounded, with families and instructors seeing them suspended with no return date. The horses, meanwhile, will be kept in the stables next to the future settlement, with no security guarantees. The outrage is understandable: a social facility has been sacrificed for a solution that is, by definition, temporary.

The politics behind the emergency

The discontent is not only about care services. In the public debate, some point directly at the regional government's management, accusing it of prioritising migrant reception over services for citizens. Others point out that Ceuta is a small city with no obvious physical alternative: the available space is already occupied. The tension between solidarity and limited resources is nothing new, but now an equestrian centre is caught in the middle.

Proposals that never leave the drawing board

Among the ideas circulating, the most striking is to anchor a ship awaiting scrapping off the coast and house migrants there while their situation is resolved. It could hold thousands of people, its supporters argue, and no urban land would be used. No one has detailed the costs, security or habitability conditions. For now, the machinery keeps working on the riding arena.

And with every scoop of asphalt lifted, the 200,000-euro investment becomes an example of how circumstances devour planning. If they decide to refurbish something next time, perhaps they should wait until there is no need to tear it down.