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Authorities in Spain are setting up a new facility in Ceuta to house hundreds of migrants who have been left without shelter since a wave of large-scale arrivals in July, according to local media reports on Saturday.
Workers were setting up two tents in an open area in the Los Rosales neighborhood, next to the Nuestra Senora de Africa nursery school, EFE news agency reported.
National Police officers were deployed to prevent possible incidents, according to the report. Work began Friday after protests by employees and parents concerned about the site's proximity to the school.
The nursery, which cares for children up to the age of three, is expected to open Sept. 28 with capacity for about 176 children.
Authorities have already prepared other sites in Loma Colmenar, La Hipica and the Tarajal industrial area to accommodate migrants sleeping on the streets or in mountainous areas due to a lack of shelter.
Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres said Wednesday that establishing such facilities was necessary to allow authorities to identify migrants and subsequently return most of them to Morocco.
The CCOO trade union called for an alternative that would allow migrants to receive assistance while addressing families' concerns and public services.
The CSIF union, meanwhile, demanded a risk assessment and security guarantees before the nursery opens. Around 72,000 people irregularly crossed from Morocco into Ceuta on July 30-31, according to the Spanish government's official estimate.
The unprecedented influx briefly brought a number of migrants almost equivalent to the enclave's population.
Government estimates suggest that around five thousand migrants who arrived during the mass crossings remain in Ceuta, a small Spanish enclave with a population of about 80,000.
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