A series of videos have emerged showing Spanish soldiers chasing down and beating migrants in the African enclave of Ceuta.
The city was overrun by as many as 80,000 migrants coming from Morocco in late July.
Since then as many as 15,000 migrants remain in the enclave. In response, Madrid has increased the presence of police and army officers in Ceuta.
But the army has since come under fire for allegedly using excessive force against migrants.
One video captured in Ceuta showed soldiers grabbing a young migrant boy and holding him down as they smashed him with batons.
He was forced to wriggle free and tumble down a litter-strewn hill to get away.
Further footage showed two soldiers beating a single migrant in the dead of night, before walking away.
Another clip showed migrants being roughed up following a raid. One man was heard pleading for help as he was shoved against a concrete wall.
One clip taken in Ceuta showed a gang of soldiers grabbing a young migrant boy and holding him down as they smashed him with batons
Another clip showed two soldiers beating a single migrant in the dead of night, before walking away
The videos come out just days after the enclave was preparing for a potential new mass surge of migrants
Another was shoved to the floor by one soldier, while another hit him with a baton.
The videos, shared by local media, have already drawn the ire of the Prime Minister’s office.
In a statement, an official told El Diario: ‘We express our complete dismay and condemnation of these images, and the Government will, of course, open an investigation into the matter.’
The videos come out just days after the enclave was preparing for a potential new mass surge of migrants.
Social media was rife with calls for migrants to enter the city again on Wednesday, when elections were being held in Morocco, which caused high tensions in the Spanish city.
Thousands of Ceuti people marched to the border with Morocco last Sunday protesting against the reported planned crossing and doctors and nurses in the area are planning to strike.
And police were deployed on Monday night to quell a riot at the Loma Colmenar detention centre.
Several police units were called in, with footage shared last night by local media showing a riot van in place with lines of officers in head-to-toe riot gear.
In front of them stood dozens of people who appeared to be migrants. The riot van sounded its alarm in an apparent warning to those gathered.
Police were also called to a makeshift migrant shelter in Loma Colmenar – and many of the inhabitants were reportedly minors. Officers raided the house following neighbours’ complaints.
