Eighteen more bodies have been laid to rest in the anonymous cemetery of Ceuta, marking the beginning of burials for migrants who died attempting to reach Spanish soil from Morocco. The interments took place this Friday at the Muslim cemetery located on the steep slope of the Sidi Embarek neighborhood, where hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of graves bear no names. These graves, many occupied by migrants who perished at sea, now include numbers ranging from 5412 to 5430. The deceased were among those found dead near the entrance to Ceuta on July 30, following a mass influx of migrants into the city. The burial process began shortly before six in the evening, with five volunteers already present at the site. They had prepared a row of earth measuring twenty meters wide and two meters long to provide temporary shelter for the bodies, which could no longer remain in the morgue due to their advanced state of decomposition. A neighbor shouted from her window, asking whose motorcycle and car were parked nearby. Another resident arrived wearing a tank top and lightweight striped shorts. Eventually, the vehicle owners removed their vehicles from the area. A hearse was expected to arrive soon. Before it did, the councilor Nabila Benzina and Navil Rahal, a deputy and partner of the funeral home, arrived. Also present was a young motorcyclist, skilled in maneuvering his bike through tight spaces, carrying canvas stretchers behind him where the migrant bodies would later be placed. By around 5:20 p.m., the first mortal remains arrived. One of the workers handling the transfer opened the trunk and said, “On the right side are the legs.” Each body was wrapped in disposable clothing, masks, and even gas masks. Four workers carried the weight of the deceased, while the humid and hot atmosphere added to the burden they bore. Those responsible for lifting the bodies gathered around an imam, standing close together as they recited, “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar” (God is great). Their eyes were fixed downward, looking at the four migrant bodies resting on the stretchers, which would be buried today. Behind them, a green grove stood out against the arid landscape of the city, stretching toward the Moroccan border, from which these individuals had come. After the initial prayer, the equipped personnel began moving the bodies to their designated spots, placing each one individually in its allocated space. Meanwhile, five individuals remained standing on the dug-out earth, continuing their prayers. Once a body was placed in its spot, a handful of white chemical powder was thrown over it, followed by thin, elongated bricks used to seal the grave. Finally, dirt would cover the site, with a number etched onto a white stone above. This process repeated itself until all eighteen bodies received burial. Of the more than a hundred migrant corpses currently held in the morgue, only six have been identified, one additional match has been made, but the individual passed away at the University Hospital. None of the bodies have been returned to Morocco, as the Moroccan government has refused to accept them. As such, the scene witnessed today is likely to repeat frequently, with more burials adding to the count at the cemetery of the unnamed. In response to the ongoing crisis, the central government announced earlier this week that it plans to establish four sites capable of accommodating 1,500 migrants in Ceuta. This decision came nearly two weeks after a large influx of migrants entered the city. According to Elma Saiz, the minister of Migration and Inclusion, the initiative aims to restore normality through collaboration between institutions. However, she did not clarify whether the priority would be returning the migrants to Morocco or processing their asylum claims, stating only that actions would be taken under existing legal frameworks. Shortly before this announcement, Juan Jesús Vivas, the mayor of Ceuta, criticized the management approach of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, raising tensions within the region’s leadership.
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