Spanish enclaves on the north coast of Africa, Ceuta and Melilla are the only land crossings that connect the European Union to Africa. Every year, hundreds of migrants try to cross the border into Spain.
Moroccan illegals try to cross the border, 10,000 arrests were carried out by Spanish authorities in 1997. Since 1991, 200 drowned people have been rescued from the Spanish side. These figures are underestimated by Tarifa fishermen. Testimony of Said who arrived in Tangier from the mountains of the South. The fishermen are as poor as he is. According to one of the fishermen, the illegals jump out of the boat at night as soon as they hear a plane. It shows men candidates for departure waiting in the mountain. In eight years, 1,000 people drowned in the Strait of Gibraltar.
In Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco, the Spanish authorities are trying to combat illegal immigration from Africa. Image of the landscape, of clandestines in the camp alternating with a testimony of an clandestine and the interview of Rafael MONTERO PALACIOS (in OV in Spanish, translation off), Deputy Mayor Ceuta
The Spanish border guards observe the coasts of Morocco every day and watch the Strait of Gibraltar. 500 men are assigned to this work of patrol on land and in boats. Since 6 months a thousand emigrants have passed. Wet clothes were abandoned. It is in Tarifa that those who have failed are detained. While some are buried in the cemetery others die forgotten in containers that sometimes stay several months on the port.
Every night Colonel Jorge’s men patrol. This night the wind is weak and therefore favorable to the passage of emigrants. Traces in the early morning testify to their passage. Two of them are docked on the side of the highway by the journalist. But they don’t mean anything that would betray their origin. The exchange is short and they ask how to reach the nearest big city, Tarifa.
Facing the rock of Gibraltar stands in Moroccan soil the city of Ceuta well Spanish. This town of Ceuta is a stronghold as are the towns of Melilla and the Chafarines Islands. Today Ceuta is a free port that makes a living from tourism. It is a garrison town in which 50,000 men of the Spanish legion called bandera are grouped.