Enacting Trust

Small and removed from the Spanish mainland, the Enclave of Ceuta has always depended

on flows of goods and labour out of the Moroccan hinterland, with individuals from

different ethnic and religious groups forming informal, flexible and personal economic

bonds based on mutual ‘confianza’ (trust). Since its entry into the European Union in 1986,

the Spanish government has erected a border-wall around the enclave, and introduced new

migration policies branding many informal workers within its borders as a threat to Spanish

society. Based on my preliminary months of research, this paper compares the Ceutan

context with other research recently conducted on the topics of migration and borders in

the Mediterranean region. It brings into focus key theoretical issues and assumptions that

constantly emerge in such literature, particularly regarding the role of ‘a-cultural’ personal

ties between migrants and locals in undermining State categories and ideology. This paper

observes how the Ceutan case encourages us to expand our focuses and consequently

problematise our understanding of crucial concepts such as ‘trust’ and ‘integration’.