距离安达卢西亚仅几公里之遥，直布罗陀海峡的非洲沿岸，休达是通往欧洲的大门。这座西班牙自治城市长期被摩洛哥声称拥有主权，已成为两国紧张关系的焦点。尽管西班牙认为其对休达的主权不容谈判，但仍需依赖摩洛哥的合作来控制移民潮。7月30日至31日，约7.2万名来自摩洛哥的人抵达休达，使这种分歧急剧加剧。
Just a few kilometers from Andalusia, on the African shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta serves as a gateway to Europe. This Spanish autonomous city, long claimed by Morocco, has become a flashpoint in tensions between the two countries. Though Spain considers its sovereignty over Ceuta non-negotiable, it nonetheless relies on cooperation from Morocco to control migration flows. On July 30 and 31, the arrival in Ceuta of around 72,000 people from Morocco sharply heightened these divisions.
在这座拥有约8.35万居民的城市中，接待设施迅速不堪重负。据西班牙政府称，绝大多数移民在几天内就已离开，但仍有数千人滞留，一些人挤在过度拥挤的接待中心和临时营地，另一些人则被遗弃在街头和海滩上自生自灭。
In this city of about 83,500 residents, reception facilities were quickly overwhelmed. According to the Spanish government, the vast majority of migrants had left within days, but thousands remained, some in overcrowded centers and makeshift camps, others left to fend for themselves on the streets and beaches.
危机很快呈现出全国性态势。9月2日，在塞乌塔日（Dia de Ceuta）当天，即该领土的年度庆典，全国各地数千名抗议者走上马德里、塞维利亚、瓦伦西亚、马拉加等城市街道，以表达对西班牙对塞乌塔控制权的支持。部分人群高喊：“塞乌塔非卖品”，“团结的塞乌塔永不失败”，“西班牙好！摩洛哥不好！”极右翼政党Vox号召其支持者以“不容入侵。捍卫塞乌塔。捍卫西班牙。”为口号进行动员。
The crisis quickly took on a national dimension. On September 2, during the Dia de Ceuta, the territory's annual celebration, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Madrid, Seville, Valencia, Malaga, and other cities across the country in support of Spanish control over Ceuta. Some of the crowds chanted, "Ceuta is not for sale," "United Ceuta will never be defeated," and "Spain yes! Morocco no!" Vox, the far-right party, called on its supporters to mobilize under the slogan: "No to the invasion. Defend Ceuta.
9月23日，在联合国大会之前，西班牙社会党首相佩德罗·桑切斯呼吁人们“不要屈服于恐惧”，“不要把移民视为敌人”，“不要违反法律”。三天后，极端保守平台“西班牙民间社会”（Sociedad Civil Española）在马德里组织了一场“尊严游行”，以捍卫塞乌塔和梅利利亚——北非另一个西班牙自治城市——并要求提前选举，该平台发布了一份宣言，呼吁对塞乌塔进行“军事化”，并“将所有入侵者驱逐回摩洛哥”。
Defend Spain." On September 23, before the United Nations General Assembly, Spain's socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on people not to "give in to fear," not to "make the migrant an enemy," and not to "violate the law." Three days later, the ultraconservative platform Sociedad Civil Española organized a "march for dignity" in Madrid to defend Ceuta and Melilla – the other autonomous Spanish city in North Africa – and to request early elections, publishing a manifesto calling for the "militarization" of Ceuta and the expulsion "to Morocco of all the invaders."
此次抗议活动汇聚了数千名示威者——政府称有2万人，组织者称有18万人。右翼和极右翼指责桑切斯自2018年以来领导的三届政府削弱了边境管控。10月5日，在其住房提议被否决后，首相宣布将于11月29日举行提前选举。塞乌塔危机如今已成为选举议题。
The protest brought together thousands of demonstrators – 20,000 according to the authorities, 180,000 according to the organizers. The right and the far right have accused the three successive governments led by Sanchez since 2018 of having weakened border controls. On October 5, after his housing proposals were rejected, the prime minister announced early elections for November 29. The crisis in Ceuta has now become an election topic.