Spain's Ceuta, hundreds of migrants stage protest

Hundreds of migrants who recently entered Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta staged a protest on a popular urban beach on Sunday, urging Spanish authorities to grant them asylum instead of sending them back to Morocco.



They were among the estimated 5,000 to 8,000 who remain in Ceuta after the mass border crossing two weeks ago that saw over 72,000 people surge into the tiny territory of about 80,000.



The vast majority returned voluntarily in the following days.



With the city's resources overstretched, most migrants were living in precarious conditions on El Trampolin beach or the city's outskirts while awaiting a chance to journey on to continental Europe.



The protesters held up Spanish flags and banners reading "We don't want to go back to Morocco" and "We are also human", while chanting slogans such as "We're tired" or "We need a solution".



On the rocky shores behind them, some migrants washed their clothes while others fished with makeshift bamboo rods.