Callum Smiles - On the Ground in Ceuta: Migration Surge Overwhelms Spanish Exclave

Callum Smiles joins Hearts of Oak to report from his recent trip to Ceuta, the Spanish enclave on the North African coast, where he was filming with Fox Populi. Fresh from Gibraltar, he describes a migration situation far larger than expected: thousands of arrivals after the major influx on 31 July, with Moroccan migrants concentrated in the south and sub-Saharan migrants in the north. The Spanish-majority enclave effectively saw its population double in a short period. From above it looked attractive; at street level it was chaotic and unstable. Callum details the military response, overcrowding and fights at facilities built for far fewer people, migrants openly stating they wanted Europe’s wealth and a better life (encouraged by social media and eager to be filmed), and the wider implications for the EU, Schengen, and the necessity of border control. Callum Smiles is an independent British journalist, formerly with Rebel News UK and now working under Callum Smiles Media while contributing to Vox Populi.. Known as “the unconventional journalist,” he specialises in on-the-ground reporting of mass migration, the World Economic Forum in Davos (where he has confronted figures including Tony Blair, Larry Fink and Greta Thunberg), and related issues across Europe and beyond. Based in the south of England, he self-films and edits his own work. The Week According to ... Callum Smiles Connect with Callum... 𝕏 https://x.com/FranklySpeakP https://x.com/vpopulimedia  WEBSITE callumsmilesmedia.com   Connect with Hearts of Oak... 𝕏                         x.com/HeartsofOakUK WEBSITE            heartsofoak.org/ PODCASTS        heartsofoak.podbean.com/ SOCIAL MEDIA  heartsofoak.org/connect/ SHOP                  heartsofoak.org/shop/ *Special thanks to Bosch Fawstin for recording our intro/outro on this podcast. Check out his art theboschfawstinstore.blogspot.com and follow him on 𝕏 x.com/TheBoschFawstin