Spain’s Demonstrations, Ceuta and Melilla, and the Migration Crisis…
When the Question of Northern Morocco Returns to the Forefront of History
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Spain’s Demonstrations, Ceuta and Melilla, and the Migration Crisis…
When the Question of Northern Morocco Returns to the Forefront of History
By: Mohamed Aabidou
The demonstrations and protest gatherings that took place across Spanish cities on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, were not merely passing expressions of anger over the Spanish government’s handling of the migration crisis in Ceuta. They have instead become a revealing political and popular moment, exposing the depth of the crisis surrounding Ceuta and its place in Spain’s political consciousness.
From Ceuta itself to Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia and Seville, the demonstrations reflected a growing sense that the migration crisis can no longer be separated from the broader political, security and historical questions surrounding Spain’s northern African territories.
At the heart of this debate lies a question that has remained unresolved for generations: What is the future of Ceuta, Melilla, and the islands and rocks under Spanish administration along the Moroccan coast?
From the Moroccan national perspective, this is not simply a contemporary political dispute. It is a question deeply rooted in history, geography, collective memory and national sovereignty. It is therefore a question that cannot be permanently pushed aside, regardless of how strongly political circumstances may encourage its postponement.
Ceuta and the migration crisis: when numbers become political
The extraordinary migration surge that occurred at the end of July 2026 transformed Ceuta into the epicenter of a major Spanish political crisis. Tens of thousands of people attempted to cross toward the enclave, while dozens lost their lives or disappeared in the attempt. Thousands of migrants, including unaccompanied minors, remained caught in an extremely difficult humanitarian and political situation.
The scale of the episode was unprecedented and immediately became a source of intense political controversy in Spain.
The demonstrations of September 2 demonstrated that Ceuta is no longer viewed solely as a border issue. It has become a symbol around which questions of national identity, territorial integrity, migration, security, relations with Morocco and the future of Spain’s policy toward North Africa are increasingly converging.
This raises a fundamental question:
Why has Ceuta acquired the power to shake Spanish politics to such an extent?
The answer cannot be found in migration statistics alone.
Ceuta carries a political and historical symbolism that goes far beyond the immediate border crisis. Its geographical position, its relationship with Morocco, its status as a Spanish-administered territory and its strategic importance within the Mediterranean and Strait of Gibraltar have made it one of the most sensitive points in relations between Morocco and Spain.
Migration has therefore become intertwined with a much larger strategic equation.
Migration must not become a weapon
Yet one essential distinction must be maintained.
Migrants themselves must not be reduced to political instruments.
Behind the statistics are human beings: young people searching for a future, families fleeing poverty or despair, minors whose lives have been shaped by circumstances beyond their control, and people who believe that crossing a border may offer them dignity and opportunity.
Their humanity must never disappear behind political slogans.
At the same time, migration must not be transformed into a political weapon, an electoral instrument or a means of exerting pressure between states.
Nor should migrants be portrayed collectively as an “invasion,” just as their suffering should not be exploited to serve political agendas.
The responsibility of Morocco is clear: to protect its citizens, secure its borders, combat human trafficking networks and prevent the exploitation of vulnerable people, while preserving human dignity.
Europe, for its part, cannot continue to address migration exclusively through security measures. The deeper causes of irregular migration must also be confronted through development, education, vocational training, employment opportunities, legitimate pathways for mobility and effective protection of the rights of minors.
A Mediterranean policy based solely on fences, patrols and deterrence will never resolve the structural causes of migration.
The question of sovereignty cannot disappear
But beyond the immediate migration crisis lies another reality.
Ceuta, Melilla and the islands and rocks under Spanish administration remain, from the Moroccan national perspective, part of an unresolved sovereignty question.
Spain has its own official position and has repeatedly rejected opening negotiations over the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla. Morocco, however, maintains its historical and national position concerning these territories.
The existence of two opposing positions does not mean that the issue should be buried.
On the contrary, mature nations are capable of discussing even the most sensitive questions without resorting to hatred, violence or war.
Morocco’s legitimate national aspirations should therefore be pursued through peaceful, diplomatic, legal, historical and political means, with patience and strategic vision.
National sovereignty is not defended through emotional reactions alone. It is defended through institutions, research, diplomacy, archives, international law, historical documentation and a long-term national strategy.
The memory of northern Morocco
There is another dimension that cannot be ignored: historical memory.
When we speak about the historical land of the Rif, we must also speak about Jebala.
The history of northern Morocco cannot be reduced to a single geographical or political label. The Rif and Jebala together constitute a vast historical space whose peoples experienced successive forms of resistance, struggle and interaction with foreign powers.
The mountains, plains, villages and cities of this region preserve the memory of generations who refused to surrender their dignity and independence.
The history of Moroccan resistance in the north is therefore not merely the story of military confrontations. It is also the story of communities defending their land, their livelihoods, their families, their agricultural resources and their right to determine their own future.
Colonialism and the wounds that history left behind
Spain’s colonial presence in northern Morocco and in parts of southern Morocco left a profound imprint on the country’s modern history.
The Rif War remains one of the most painful chapters of that history.
The use of aerial bombardment and chemical weapons, including toxic agents such as mustard gas, has become an important subject of historical research concerning the conflict. The destruction of villages, crops and property, as well as attacks that affected civilian livelihoods, left memories that continued to be transmitted from one generation to another.
These questions deserve serious academic examination.
They should neither be transformed into instruments of hatred nor erased from historical consciousness.
A nation cannot heal its historical wounds by pretending that they never existed.
Nor can genuine friendship between peoples be built upon collective amnesia.
Open the archives
This is why Morocco and Spain need a new approach to historical memory.
The archives should be opened.
Researchers should be given access to historical documents.
Testimonies from descendants of victims and resistance fighters should be collected.
Academic studies should be encouraged.
Historical documents should be translated into Arabic, Spanish, French and English.
Documentaries should be produced.
Universities and research centers should be encouraged to undertake joint projects based on evidence, documentation and scientific methodology.
The objective should not be to manufacture hatred.
Quite the opposite.
We want a documented history, not a history manufactured by hatred.
We want young Moroccans to know their history, and we want young Spaniards to understand the historical realities that shaped the relationship between the two peoples.
Historical memory should be a bridge to understanding, not a weapon of revenge.
September 2: a political warning and a strategic opportunity
The demonstrations witnessed across Spain on September 2 should therefore be read carefully in Morocco.
They reveal that the question of Ceuta is deeply embedded in Spain’s political and social consciousness.
They also demonstrate that migration can suddenly transform a geographically limited border issue into a national political crisis.
For Morocco, this should be a moment for reflection.
The time has come to move from reaction to strategy.
Morocco needs stronger institutions dedicated to historical diplomacy, deeper research into the history of northern Morocco, systematic documentation of colonial archives, and greater international dissemination of historical scholarship.
The country also needs a long-term strategy capable of bringing together diplomacy, academia, civil society, culture and international law.
The issue of Ceuta and Melilla cannot be reduced to occasional political statements.
It requires patience.
It requires knowledge.
It requires archives.
It requires diplomacy.
And above all, it requires a national vision extending beyond the political cycles of the present.
Spain and Morocco: beyond security and migration
Spain must also understand that its relationship with Morocco cannot rest exclusively on economic interests, security cooperation and migration management.
These are important areas of cooperation, but they cannot erase history.
True friendship between nations does not require one people to forget its historical memory.
On the contrary, genuine friendship is strongest when it is built upon truth, mutual respect and the courage to confront difficult chapters of the past.
Morocco and Spain share geography, economic interests, human ties and a common Mediterranean space.
But they also share a complicated history.
The future should not be held hostage by that history.
Yet neither should the future be built by denying it.
No hatred, no war, no revenge
The migration crisis around Ceuta must not become a war between two peoples.
The political disagreements between Morocco and Spain must not become hostility between Moroccans and Spaniards.
And the historical wounds of colonialism must not be transformed into a justification for hatred or violence.
There is another path.
A path of knowledge.
A path of historical justice.
A path of diplomacy.
A path of dialogue.
A path of patience and strategic intelligence.
The demonstrations of September 2 may have been triggered by migration, but they have once again placed Ceuta at the center of a much larger historical and political debate.
For Morocco, the lesson should be clear:
The question of the north cannot be separated from its history.
The history of the Rif cannot be separated from the history of Jebala.
The question of sovereignty cannot be separated from historical memory.
And historical memory cannot be separated from the dignity of generations who lived through colonialism and resistance.
Morocco does not need hatred to defend its historical rights.
It does not need war to preserve its national dignity.
It needs knowledge, documentation, diplomacy, patience, strategic vision and faith in the legitimacy of peaceful action.
No hatred. No war. No revenge.
But a history that must be told, a right that must be defended, a dignity that must never be forgotten, and a future that must be built with wisdom, clarity and patience.