Spain’s medical unions have declared a crisis of extreme severity in Ceuta after 60,000 people entered the autonomous city within 24 hours, overwhelming its public health system and triggering an international geopolitical crisis, the Confederation of Spanish Medical Unions (CESM) said.
The influx represents about 70 percent of Ceuta’s total population of roughly 84,000 people arriving in a single day. CESM described the situation as an absolute collapse of the city.
At least 67 people died attempting to cross into Ceuta, CESM said. Some sources put the number of bodies recovered at more than 80.
Medical staff were left working under disaster-medicine conditions. Some doctors attended more than 40 critical patients each in a single night, the union said. Professionals treated simultaneous cases of severe hypothermia, asphyxia, impact trauma and drownings requiring immediate resuscitation. Emergency care for babies and young children showing signs of dehydration or freezing increased sharply.
The Medical Union of Ceuta (SMC) had issued official warnings about the risk of a national emergency before the border was overwhelmed, CESM said, but INGESA, the body overseeing public health in Ceuta, and the Ministry of Health did not act on them.
The Ministry of Health has since activated an emergency plan running until the following Monday. CESM called the measure too late and said failures in planning and resource allocation had contributed directly to the deaths.
