José Juan Romero stood in front of the cameras this week to preview AD Ceuta's opening match of the new Segunda División season, and instead spent much of the press conference talking about something else entirely. "If it were up to me, Ceuta wouldn't play this weekend," the coach said, according to ONE.
It was a striking line from a manager on the eve of a league campaign, but Romero was speaking to the moment. His city has spent the past fortnight at the centre of a severe migrant crisis, after a mass crossing from Morocco triggered emergency talks among EU officials, street protests and days of rolling coverage that Romero feels has still understated how bad things are on the ground.
"It's somewhat embarrassing for me to talk about football with what we're experiencing in Ceuta," he said, adding that "little account is being taken beyond our borders" of the scale of the crisis. He said he knows friends whose children are now too frightened to leave the house, and that even his own family called off a planned visit to the city out of concern for their safety.
Romero drew a direct comparison with Ceuta's last major migrant surge, in May 2021, saying this month's crisis is worse. A demonstration was held in the city on Sunday to press authorities for a stronger response, and Romero suggested more forceful action may follow if the situation does not improve.
The upheaval has not spared the football club either. Romero said the crisis has complicated AD Ceuta's work in the transfer market, limiting the club's room to negotiate and finalise summer signings as the city's institutions and attention are consumed elsewhere.
Despite all of that, Saturday's fixture goes ahead. AD Ceuta open their Segunda División campaign away to FC Andorra at the Nou Estadi d'Encamp on August 15 at 17:00, kicking off a season in Spain's second tier. Romero called the hosts an "extraordinary team that plays excellent football," while confirming defender Josema will miss the trip — a "very significant absence," in his words — with the rest of the first-team squad available and five or six reserve-team players travelling for cover.
For a manager who has led the club since September 2022, the game itself was almost an afterthought next to the message he wanted to send. Romero said he hopes a positive result can offer the city "a thread of hope" at a difficult moment, even as he continues to press for the crisis to receive the attention he believes it deserves.
