Spain has opened temporary reception facilities for around 1,800 migrants after thousands were left sleeping outdoors following the extraordinary mass crossing into Ceuta. The crisis has overwhelmed an enclave whose normal population is only about 80,000. Authorities are simultaneously dealing with asylum claims, repatriations, security, humanitarian conditions and pressure on local services. Italy’s temporary border measures have turned the Spanish crisis into a wider European dispute. Few current European topics combine sovereignty, humanitarian obligations and everyday public-service pressures so directly.