Around 70 migrants staying at the former Maristas school in Guardamar del Segura staged a peaceful protest yesterday morning, calling for faster progress in regularising their administrative status in Spain.

Security sources said the demonstration passed without significant incident. Units from the Civil Guard and the Local Police were deployed as a precaution, but there were no reported disturbances and the protest ended by mid-morning.

The group has asked for greater speed in the extraordinary documentation regularisation process. They are receiving support from the NGO Cepaim, which assists residents at the reception centre with legal and administrative procedures.

The site has been housing migrants transferred from the Canary Islands for several months, most of them of sub-Saharan origin. According to the same sources, the number of residents typically fluctuates between 80 and 320 adults as they await the normalisation of their legal status in Spain.