Ceuta begins burials for migrants who died attempting to cross into the Spanish territory

Politics

GUARDIAN MEDIA NEWSROOMJournalist at Guardian

August 21, 2026

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Ceuta begins burials for migrants who died attempting to cross into the Spanish territory

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Against the murmur of prayers, body bags were lowered into graves marked only with numbers.

Gravediggers placed the first four victims in cinderblock plots while a small group of locals watched at a cemetery on the tip of North Africa.

The dead, whose identities are unknown, were among the more than 90 migrants who lost their lives during Spain’s deadliest border crisis three weeks ago. Fueled by misinformation, poverty and a lack of opportunities, more than 72,000 people poured into Ceuta, a Spanish territory that neighbors Morocco.

Politics