Tarajal fire destroys 42 migrant shacks in Ceuta, Spain

Antiestéticar and 42 shacks burned down in the Tarajal fire

A fire that broke out in the early hours of Thursday burned down 42 shacks outside the Las Naves del Tarajal area in Ceuta, Spain, leaving dozens of people sleeping outdoors among scorched rubbish. Among them is Nihad El Mazraoui, 29, mother of two children aged eight and three, from Castillejos, who crossed the border on 31 July and has since been living in a tent propped up on pallets with her husband. Her testimony needs no embellishment: «I'm going to have to go back to Segarro, I can't stand not knowing what will happen tonight, whether the fire will come back, whether they will shoot at us again».

42 shacks fewer and a camp still unresolved

The numbers of the incident are as stark as the camp itself: 42 structures destroyed, a settlement right on the border and a population that has spent weeks — some since late July — living without supplies, without security and without a stable roof. El Mazraoui's tent narrowly escaped the flames. That detail, more than any speech, sums up the fragility of a reception setup that depends on pallets and luck.

The tug-of-war between removal and reception

The fire has reignited the dispute over these people's status. Some argue that, having entered through the border, they are not covered by the Supreme Court ruling on removals and should be returned within less than 24 hours. On the other side, it is argued that such hot returns clash with the safeguards required by the law and that a humanitarian emergency is not answered with an express return. Spain's Ministry of the Interior has downplayed the matter as a «subjective feeling of insecurity».

The relocation operation, the legal status of those affected and who answers for the 42 burned shacks remain without a public answer. The fire was put out in a single night. The tally of what it left behind has not been.