The meaning of Ceuta

The French writer Balzac said the “Spaniard has largely traded on the reputation of the Moor”. As images of the infiltration of Ceuta by tens of thousands of Moroccans hit the front pages, the world was suddenly reminded of Spain’s position as Europe’s frontier.

The scenes of crowds overwhelming the border and filling the streets were shocking enough to spark a continent-wide episode of PTSD as memories of the 2015 migrant crisis re-emerged. However, the murky truth behind an episode which has left close to a hundred people filling Ceuta’s morgue is a typically 21st-century mix of ideals, geopolitics, and tragic hope.