Ceuta's Children: Minors Compulsorily Accompanied (Ignacia de Pano in Vozpópuli)

Thousands of children in Ceuta have spent the summer of 2026 confined to their homes, deprived of summer freedom and normal life in their city, due to the mass arrival of migrants.

## The City That Became Alien

Eight thousand children in **Ceuta** experienced a summer of 2026 vastly different from the dreamt-of one. Holidays, which for many are synonymous with beaches, games, and first adventures alone, have turned into forced confinement. The small city, which until recently was their universe of freedom, has been invaded by a mass of people equivalent to its own population. Usual play areas, such as beaches, schools, and sports halls, have become inaccessible or dangerous. The anguish of the parents has taken root, forcing the children to remain at home, even without their guardians present. The youngest relive nocturnal terrors and a feeling of strangeness, while the older ones perceive the tension in the atmosphere, the whispers, and the lack of smiles from their parents. The situation has directly impacted the local economy, with a **30 percent** drop in property values and a drastic decrease in commercial sales. Tourism has vanished, frightened.
The question looms whether to continue fighting for a life project in a city they no longer feel belongs to them, or to leave, making way for those who have occupied it.

## A Return to School Marked by Uncertainty

The return to school in **Ceuta** this year, 2026, has not been typical. After an August without beaches or night outings, the children return to classrooms without teachers having clear safety protocols for the possibility that the newcomers might also occupy educational centers. The uncertainty of having children away from them for five hours a day has become unbearable for many parents. As a precaution, some children carry pepper spray in their backpacks, alongside books and snacks, for self-defense. The shadow of sensual offenses hangs over the city, with an exponential increase in these acts since the mass arrival of young, unaccompanied men. The testimonies collected are alarming, with accounts justifying sensual violence against women, received with laughter by other migrants and in the silence of those who should denounce it. The situation has transformed the school environment into a battleground, where teachers, despite being underpaid and lacking specific training for it, assume the responsibility of defending their students not only from usual conflicts but also from real aggressions.
The phrase from one teacher, "I will defend the children with my life," resonates with the harshness of a military conflict.

## Children Compulsorily Accompanied

The image of a two-year-old child waving a Spanish flag from their home window while a demonstration in defense of **Ceuta** passed on September 2, 2026, summarizes the situation experienced by the minors. They have spent a summer confined, like "lambs," without understanding why their city has stopped being theirs. Returning to school means going hand-in-hand with their parents, having not enjoyed the small freedoms of summer that prepare them for life. Class hours will be dedicated to processing antiestéticar, a feeling that has taken root unconsciously but damagingly. The streets are navigated at quick pace, looking forward to avoid seeing what occurs on the sidewalks. They are children who have lost the joy of letting go, of proving themselves. A government whose responsibility should generate perpetual insomnia has turned these minors into "compulsorily accompanied," sad and obligated. They are, ultimately, "our children."