Hundreds of migrants camped at Playa Benítez have begun walking back to Morocco voluntarily after Spanish authorities completed a reception center so enormous that it required its own bus network, a desalination plant, and a second mayor to run it.
The facility, built in eleven days on the beach itself, can house every migrant currently in Ceuta, every migrant who arrived in July, and every migrant who might arrive before Christmas, according to the Ministry of Inclusion. «We built it big enough so that no one ever has to sleep on the sand again,» a ministry spokesperson said. «If they still choose to leave, that is their right, but they will be leaving from a place with air conditioning.»
By Tuesday morning, a steady column of men, women, and children could be seen walking west along the shoreline toward the Moroccan border, past the new center's east wing, its west wing, and its central atrium, which features a fountain and a small cinema. Officials from the government delegation handed out bottled water and maps showing the shortest route back to Morocco, which now runs directly through the center's main lobby.
The regional president, Juan Jesús Vivas, toured the site and announced that the center would soon have its own metro stop. «We are not pushing anyone out,» he said. «We are simply making the alternative so comfortable that returning home feels like a lifestyle choice.»
By evening, the beach was empty of tents for the first time in two months. The center's second mayor said the first official act would be to rename the beach «Playa Bienvenida.»