Around 60,000 people poured across the border into Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco in recent days, the president of the Spanish territory said Friday. More than 25,000 of them have since voluntarily returned to Morocco, according to Spain's Interior Ministry.
Around 60,000 people were estimated to have crossed into Ceuta in the past few days, the leader of the Spanish exclave in North Africa, Juan Jesus Vivas, told reporters on Friday – more than half of Ceuta's population.
He added that at least 34 people had died while trying to cross the border.
Many appear to have drowned trying to swim around the frontier, or were crushed to death in a stampede to cross the breakwater fence at Tarajal beach, a local eyewitness said.
More than 25,000 migrants have voluntarily returned to Morocco, according to Spain's Interior Ministry.
In a visit to the city, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday condemned the breach of the border, describing the events as "a violation of Spain's territorial integrity”.
Read moreSpain deploys military as hundreds cross into Ceuta from Morocco
Spain sent troops to the Ceuta enclave to reinforce the Civil Guard and help maintain security.
'It's chaotic'
Rachid Sbihi, who leads a local workers association representing Civil Guard officers, described the situation as a “serious humanitarian crisis”.
“People are still entering. The reinforcements that have arrived are only helping the injured and other humanitarian efforts,” he said.
Without shelter, thousands of migrants, including unaccompanied children, were left sleeping in parks and on sidewalks, with others roaming the streets aimlessly, he said.
“It’s chaotic,” he added.
Moroccan police arrested about 30 young people on Friday, an AFP journalist saw.
Security forces deployed tear gas and water cannon to disperse a thousands-strong crowd of mainly young men gathered to attempt a border crossing.
Despite the clashes, hundreds of would-be migrants continued to arrive in the area, climbing the steep hillsides overlooking the border crossing.
Politically sensitive
Migration from Morocco into Spain's two north African territories, Ceuta and Melilla, has long been a sensitive issue between the two countries, as thousands of people cross the border at times.
Italy on Thursday called for Spain to be suspended from Europe's open-borders Schengen zone, prompting Spain to summon Italy's ambassador to Madrid.
France is tightening its borders with Spain in response to the situation, the country's interior minister said on Friday.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on X that he had "given instructions to immediately step up controls at the Spanish border" on Thursday night, adding on broadcaster RTL that he had spoken with his Spanish counterpart and would do so again Friday.
On Thursday, AFP reporters saw a stream of adults and children entering Ceuta after having swum there. Discarded flotation rings and clothes were abandoned on the shore near where the border barrier meets the sea.
Sanchez will visit the Tarajal border crossing with Interior Minister Fernando Gramnde-Marlaska on Friday, the government said in a statement.
Ceuta and Melilla have Europe's only two land borders with Africa.
Behind the scenes
Migrants walked through the streets of Ceuta, thanking the Spanish police and calling out: "Bye bye, Morocco, hello Spain."
Police and Civil Guards in Ceuta appeared to do little to intervene, although some officers attempted to direct the arrivals to the local migrant reception centre.
Morocco's authorities had not yet issued an official statement on the influx of people, but a Moroccan official source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the two countries had spoken about the matter.
In 2021, more than 10,000 migrants reached Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco over the course of two days, taking advantage of a loosening of border controls by Rabat during a crisis between the two countries.
That dispute erupted after Spain decided to host the leader of the Sahrawi independence movement, the Polisario Front, for medical treatment.
Polisario guerrillas fought a long war with Morocco over independence of the Western Sahara region. Morocco's neighbour Algeria had supported the Polisario group.
That diplomatic crisis ended in 2022 when Madrid reversed its long-standing policy of neutrality and backed Morocco's plan for Western Sahara – a move that had caused a diplomatic rift between Madrid and Algiers.
Sanchez visited Algiers on July 20 – the first such visit by a Spanish head of government in four years – marking a thaw in relations with Algeria.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
