Births Plummet 50% in Spanish Enclaves After Morocco Border Closure

According to Ingesa data, the number of births in the autonomous cities has fallen by around 50% compared to the pre-pandemic period. To confirm these figures, the national deputy of Vox for Ceuta, Teresa Lopez, has asked the government for a detailed report on the number of births recorded in the autonomous cities since 2012 as well as the nationality of the parturients.

To read: Ceuta Birth Rate Plummets 31% as COVID Border Closure Halts Moroccan Mothers

In its response, the government indicated that, from 2012 until the onset of the pandemic, a little more than 30% of the births recorded in Ceuta concerned babies of foreign mothers, compared to more than 50% in Melilla. In detail, 11,517 births, of which 3,792 by foreign women, were recorded in Ceuta between 2012 and 2019, i.e. 33.92%. In Melilla, during the same period, 21,358 births, of which 12,162 by non-Spanish mothers, were recorded, i.e. 56% of the total.

To read: Border Closure Leads to Rare Day with No Births in Ceuta on New Year’s

But these figures do not provide information on births in the two autonomous cities after the pandemic and the closure of borders with Morocco in March 2020, notes the far-right formation. In response, the government adds that between 2020 and 2021, in Ceuta, the recorded births have barely increased by 1,527 of which only 99 (89 in 2020 and 10 in 2021), i.e. 6.4%, are foreign women. In Melilla, the number of births was 2,082, of which 419 by foreign women (379 in 2020 and 40 in 2021), which represents 20% of the total.

"The government gives us in its responses enough data to support what we have been denouncing for years, namely that Morocco has undertaken to saturate our health system to the detriment of the population of Ceuta and Melilla," said Lopez.