San Francisco Frontiers - Last Ceuta migrant camp removed ahead of Spanish king's visit

The camp sprang up after a mass influx of more than 70,000 people into the Spanish territory from neighbouring Morocco on July 30 and 31.

Although most returned to Morocco within days, thousands remained in Ceuta, sleeping rough in the streets or on beaches and straining the small city's resources.

The sudden influx, during which scores of people died, sparked alarm across the European Union and triggered a political crisis in Madrid.

Police backed by soldiers arrived shortly after 8:00 am on Sunday at the El Guano esplanade, where hundreds of migrants had been camping in makeshift shelters following earlier clearances of settlements on nearby beaches, an AFP reporter saw.

Migrants were put on buses and taken to reception centres for police processing, while cleaning crews moved in to clear the esplanade and beach.

Some migrants fled into nearby hills to avoid being put on buses.

Over 350 police officers from various units were involved, the interior ministry said in a statement, adding it was the fifth such operation in Ceuta in recent weeks "aimed at clearing public areas of the city".

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia are scheduled to visit Ceuta on Tuesday, on a trip coordinated with the government.

Morocco claims sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's two North African enclaves.

The royal visit to Ceuta, followed by a trip to Melilla on October 14, will be the first by a Spanish monarch to the two cities since King Juan Carlos travelled there in November 2007, sparking a diplomatic crisis with Morocco.

The opposition has accused Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government of reacting too slowly to the migrant crisis in Ceuta.

K.Gray--SFF