200 migrants in Ceuta start hunger strike for asylum

Today's essentials (5 key points)

• Around 200 migrants gathered on Trampolín beach in Ceuta launched a hunger strike on Sunday 16 August 2026 to press Spain for asylum, according to El Periódico de Ceuta.
• Open-Meteo forecasts a hot, cloudy Monday across the Balearic Islands, with highs of 32 degrees in Palma and 33 degrees in Eivissa and very little chance of rain.
• Menorca (Es Diari) reports that the north of Es Mercadal has gone nearly twelve days without internet after a Porsche crashed into a communications antenna.
• A woman is in intensive care after her car left the road and hit a dry-stone wall near the Son Gall roundabout on the Ciutadella to Cala en Bosc road, according to Menorca (Es Diari).
• Two off-duty national police officers arrested two men in Playa de Palma for allegedly stealing a tourist's phone, Ultima Hora reports.

Today's essentials

200 migrants in Ceuta start hunger strike for asylum. Around 200 migrants camped on Trampolín beach in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta began a hunger strike on Sunday 16 August 2026 to demand asylum in Spain, according to El Periódico de Ceuta.

El Periódico de Ceuta reports that some of the protesters refused the food handed out by humanitarian groups, including the Red Cross, and held up placards reading "We want asylum" in both English and Spanish. The improvised camp on Trampolín beach has existed since late July 2026, with people sheltering under tarpaulins and plastic sheeting, and the strikers say they intend to keep going at least until Wednesday.

The Objective, citing Spain's public broadcaster TVE, quotes one migrant saying "Nosotros no queremos comer, queremos una solución" (we do not want to eat, we want a solution), adding that he sees no future for himself in Morocco. The same outlet describes a strained situation in Ceuta, from clashes and thefts to a stretched health service, sanitation staff signed off sick with anxiety and local economic losses it estimates at more than 30 million euros.

On the official response, El Periódico de Ceuta says the Spanish government has floated three possible sites to set up temporary facilities capable of housing more than 1,500 asylum seekers. The authorities also stress that entering the country irregularly does not automatically grant a residence permit or the right to asylum, which leaves the outcome of the protest genuinely open.

What this means for you: if you are an English-speaking resident of the Balearics following Spanish immigration news, this is a mainland Ceuta story rather than a local one, but it is likely to shape the national asylum debate over the coming days. The next marker to watch is Wednesday 19 August 2026, the deadline the strikers themselves set to continue or end their action, according to El Periódico de Ceuta; the government's decision on the three proposed housing sites has no confirmed date yet.

Weather today

Hot and overcast, 32 to 33 degrees. Expect a hot, cloudy Monday 17 August 2026 across the Balearics, with highs of 32 to 33 degrees and almost no rain, according to Open-Meteo.

In Palma, Open-Meteo forecasts a low of 26 degrees and a high of 32 degrees under an overcast sky, with only a 5 percent chance of rain and a light breeze reaching 17 km/h. It is a muggy day rather than a scorcher: keep water on hand and save any real effort for the cooler morning hours.

Across the rest of Mallorca, Andratx sits between 27 and 32 degrees with a fully cloudy sky, no rain expected and gentle winds up to 11 km/h. On the other islands, Eivissa climbs a touch higher, from 25 to 33 degrees, again overcast and dry, with a soft breeze around 13 km/h. Light clothing and shade will do more for you today than a raincoat.

Transport & traffic

• Woman in intensive care after crash in Ciutadella. Menorca (Es Diari) reports that a woman was seriously injured early on Saturday when her car left the road and hit a dry-stone wall on the road linking Ciutadella and Cala en Bosc, near the Son Gall roundabout. The stretch near the Son Gall roundabout on the edge of Ciutadella carries a steady flow of holiday traffic toward the beaches of the southwest, and a night-time single-vehicle crash there is a reminder to keep speeds down on Menorca's rural roads, where a stray dry-stone wall leaves little margin for error.
• Twelve days offline in the north of Es Mercadal. The north of Es Mercadal in Menorca has spent nearly twelve days without internet after a Porsche collided with a communications antenna, according to Menorca (Es Diari). The outage hits Coves Noves, Arenal d'en Castell, Addaia, Na Macaret, Cala Molí, part of Son Parc and stretches of the road running from Es Mercadal to its northern coast. For residents and holidaymakers in those areas, that means almost two weeks without home broadband and unreliable card payments in some businesses, so plan on mobile data as a backup if you are staying on that side of the island.

Local news to know

• Off-duty officers foil a phone theft in Playa de Palma. Two off-duty national police officers arrested two men of Romanian origin in Playa de Palma last Thursday for allegedly stealing a tourist's mobile phone, according to Ultima Hora.
• Hundreds bid farewell to Bonnie Tyler. Diario de Mallorca reports that hundreds of people gathered to say goodbye to British singer Bonnie Tyler at a funeral held in Swansea Minster in her native Wales, where she was remembered as a star without airs.
• Palma Futsal open Galician tour against Indonesia. Illes Balears Palma Futsal kick off their Galician pre-season tour in Chantada against Indonesia as they build toward the new campaign, according to Ultima Hora.
• Ronaldo hints this could be his last season. According to Periódico de Ibiza y Formentera, Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted that this could be his final season as a professional footballer, though he remains under contract with Al Nassr until 2027.

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