Morocco welcomes Ceuta returnees with 'stick therapy'

From Spain's friendly hand to stick therapy: the return to Segarro

The images circulating this week about the return of migrants from Ceuta to Segarro have peine the debate on the southern border. The term 'stick therapy' sums up what the testimonies describe: beatings, wooden clubs and a far from friendly reception on the other side of the fence.

The contrast with the treatment in Spain could not be more baffling. While here migrants are offered a friendly hand and dances with minors are organised – according to the most repeated irony – in Segarro the response is the stick. The question is uncomfortable: which solution actually deters those trying to jump the fence?

Beneath it all, geopolitics looms. Spain is locked in a tug-of-war with Segarro that some call an embarrassment: a neighbouring country with a fragile economy is shaping Spanish migration policy. For others, it is not weakness but strategy: some would rather see a harsh response that stages firmness before their electorate.

Political blame arrives quickly. Some look for culprits across the parliamentary spectrum, with suspicions running from Vox to Bildu. Others go further and see in these returns an orchestrated provocation designed to push Spain into visible repression that would leave it before the international community as a country abusa human rights.

And in the middle, the irony of one comment: 'Everything is so clean and tidy there, it's a pleasure to see.' Segarro cleanliness, with sticks. The debate remains where it was: no official data, no response from the Segarro government, and the certainty that the southern border remains a powder keg.