The Migrants Have Left Ceuta, But the Trauma Lingers

Tens of thousands of migrants flooded into Ceuta, Spain, and nearly all had left by Sunday morning, but the city's trauma lingered.

The migrants left behind abandoned shoes in the Mediterranean Sea off Ceuta, and sanitation worker Evaristo Casares Fernandez, 55, was tasked with cleaning them up.

Ceuta has historically been a multiethnic melting pot with Spanish military fortifications, churches, mosques, and a synagogue, but now it symbolizes the migration chasm between Europe and Africa.

Spanish authorities estimated 60,000 migrants breached the border, overwhelming guards and leading residents to stay home; shops closed and the street life receded.

Madrid deployed police and military to escort most migrants back to the border with Morocco by Saturday evening; residents feel abandoned and fear a repeat influx.