Illegal migrants on a Ceuta beach held a baby dolphin above their heads after allegedly hitting it over the head with a stick.
Enraged locals argued with the North Africans as they surrounded the tiny mammal and lifted it up into the air, with one warning them it was illegal to touch it and ‘eat it.’
Footage of the incident has now sparked an online petition demanding those responsible are identified and brought before the courts.
They are thought to have been among the estimated 72,500 migrants who swam into Spain’s North African enclave late last month, with thousands of those who crossed still remaining in Ceuta.
Local newspaper El Faro de Ceuta reported that the calf had been swimming close to the shore before it was pulled from the water and one of the group struck it on the head with a stick.
The newspaper said an Ecoservicios cleaning worker witnessed the incident and intervened, warning the group not to hit or handle the animal and to call a collection service.
Nadia Garcia Gomez, who launched the petition, said in a post alongside a photo of one of the migrants holding up the calf: ‘On Wednesday, September 2, 2026, a disoriented dolphin calf swimming near the shore at Trampolin Beach, in Ceuta, was brutally pulled from the water.
This is the disturbing moment illegal migrants on a Ceuta beach hold up a baby dolphin above their heads as if it were a trophy after allegedly whacking it over the head with a stick near the shoreline
Enraged locals argued with the North Africans as they surrounded the tiny mammal and broke the law by touching it and lifting it up in the air like a rag doll, with one warning them it was illegal to touch it and ‘eat it’
The sickening scenes have now sparked an online petition demanding those responsible are identified and brought before the courts
A Spaniard who tried to intervene (pictured above) could be overheard shouting: ‘They’ve just caught a dolphin, that’s a dolphin, you can’t touch it’ as he approached the group of migrants
‘Eyewitnesses and local media reported that the animal was handled as if it were an object and violently struck on the head with a stick, causing its immediate death.
‘The shocking images shared on social media show those responsible displaying the cetacean’s lifeless body as if it were a trophy.
‘This act of extreme and unjustifiable cruelty cannot go unpunished.
‘Dolphins are strictly protected species under Spanish and European laws, and mistreatment of them constitutes a serious criminal offence.’
Referencing the Civil Guard’s specialised environmental protection unit called Seprona, she added: ‘Therefore, we are launching this petition to demand that the Government Delegation in Ceuta, the Department of the Environment and SEPRONA act with the utmost urgency.
‘We demand that all necessary resources be used to formally identify those involved in this killing and that the full weight of the law fall upon them, applying the maximum penalties for the crime of animal abuse resulting in death.’
A Spaniard who tried to intervene could be overheard shouting: ‘They’ve just caught a dolphin, that’s a dolphin, you can’t touch it’ as he approached the group of migrants.
He yelled as two of the North Africans lifted the mammal above their heads and were egged on by others cheering and laughing behind them: ‘No, no, no, you can’t do that, you can’t do that, sons of b*****s.’
Although it wasn’t immediately clear what the intentions of the migrants were he went on: ‘It’s a dolphin. You can’t eat it.’
The migrants signalled to him the mammal was dead, with one making a throat-slitting gesture with his hand although one of the group appeared to try to return it to the water despite its condition.
The Good Samaritan Spaniard raged as he left the beach after claims by the North Africans they weren’t to blame for its death: ‘The beach has miraculously killed a dolphin, with blood on its head.
‘There you have it, they’ve killed a protected species and a baby dolphin on top of this.’
A group of migrant youngsters were later filmed taking the mammal behind the breakwater blocks on the beach, which was turned into a makeshift camp after last month’s mass border breach dubbed an invasion by many Spaniards including city politicians.
It was not clear today what had happened to the dolphin.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets on Wednesday across Spain to show their support for Ceuta and protest at the government’s handling of the ongoing crisis.
Although most of the migrants who swam into Ceuta returned home shortly afterwards, thousands remained and many are sleeping rough because there is no room for them in temporary holding centres.
Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish North African enclave 250 miles to the east along Morocco’s northern Mediterranean coast, have the EU’s only two land borders with Africa.
Yesterday it emerged a Spanish woman living in Ceuta had been arrested after allegedly stabbing a man believed to be a Moroccan migrant inside her home.
Police have revealed the victim was ‘undocumented’ and was believed to be aged between 25 and 30.
He has been described as a cousin of the alleged killer.
On Monday prosecutors in Ceuta revealed 23 alleged sexual assaults including five rapes have been reported to them since last month’s mass border breach.
Nine of the alleged victims are female children and teenagers aged between 14 and 17 and another is a gay man, officials said.
Eight men are being investigated, four Moroccans, three Spaniards and a Belgian national, but in the rest of the cases no-one has been arrested or identified.
