Ceuta police transfer migrants from Playa Benítez to temporary shelter

The National Police had lined up the 300 to 400 migrants who had spent the night on the beach before escorting them to the buses that would take them to the CATE, located in the Tarajal warehouses.

A group of around 30 migrants broke into a run along the beach towards the city centre. Police gave chase, although they only managed to catch five people.

The rest of the group managed to escape into the city, evading the police operation involving more than 50 officers and numerous police vans. The police had positioned themselves at the end of the promenade leading to the city centre in order to prevent incidents similar to those that happened during a previous transfer.

More than five vans were stationed at the Trampolín beach, just a few metres from the Benítez beach, to prevent the more than 4,000 migrants sleeping there from moving to the other beach.

The National Police operation began at 7am. At around 8am, around 50 police officers started waking up the migrants. "Grab your things and get out," they told them. The migrants began to leave their shacks with their belongings without offering any resistance.

Police sources have revealed plans to cordon off access to the Benítez beach via the desalination plant area to prevent future occupations.

The evacuation of Benítez is for "safety reasons". The water reservoir in the area releases its contents when it fills up during the rainy season, which began on Monday.

The National Police have deployed drones into the pipeline that carries water from the reservoir to Benítez and, using thermal imaging cameras, have confirmed that there are people living inside it.

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