Symbolic imageCeuta mayor demands internment centre as border checks stay
Ceuta's mayor has demanded an internment centre for the thousands of migrants still in the enclave. Spain and Italy keep their border checks before a mass crossing called for 15 August.
Mayor-President Juan Jesus Vivas of the conservative Popular Party said such a centre "must be achieved urgently" so that the migrants "are not in our streets". He puts the number still in the enclave at 8,000 to 11,000, against the government's 2,500; hundreds of unaccompanied children cannot be summarily deported under Spanish law. Spanish authorities on Monday raised their estimate of the late-July crossings from Morocco to 80,000, of whom the government says 70,000 returned within two days. Police said 5,000 residents protested on Sunday.
Brussels asks, platforms decide
Rumours that reaching Ceuta's shore opens the way into the EU spread on TikTok, WhatsApp and Facebook; their origin is unclear. EU digital commissioner Henna Virkkunen asked Meta and TikTok for more oversight; the DSA crisis mechanism would need six months to two years, FAZ writes.
Schengen under strain
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said checks with Spain could be lifted after 15 August absent a new surge, days after Spain's Jose Manuel Albares called them "unjustified". Nine EU states run such checks, though no one who crossed reached mainland Spain: Ceuta lies outside Schengen.
Other opinions
Al Jazeera centres the migrants' conditions; The National (UAE) reads Italy's checks as election messaging by Meloni.