Tens of hundreds of migrants who crossed into Spain’s tiny Ceuta territory returned voluntarily to Morocco on Friday, a day after the inflow triggered chaos within the North African metropolis and reignited the immigration debate in Europe and past.
At the very least 57 migrants died on the journey.
Ceuta’s president put the variety of migrants at 60,000, which was equal to 70% of the territory’s inhabitants. However most of them quickly went again, the Spanish authorities mentioned, after the sudden arrival of so many individuals sparked a humanitarian disaster.
Some migrants swam a number of miles by the ocean and confronted down authorities who tried to show them again with water cannons, tear gasoline and warning pictures. Those that died included some who drowned or had been killed in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier close to a border checkpoint.
Spain deployed its armed forces and extra police to revive order in Ceuta, which sits on the Strait of Gibraltar on the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea and has been a Spanish possession since 1580. On the Moroccan aspect of the border, safety forces clashed with migrants. The chaos additionally had ripple results overseas, with Italy and France pledging to tighten their controls on individuals arriving from Spain.
“The scenario that Ceuta goes by is completely unsustainable,” Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas advised journalists.
In the meantime, migrants from Morocco additionally tried to cross into Melilla, Spain’s different territory on the tip of North Africa, the place they clashed with police.
Spanish prime minister condemns border breach
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Ceuta on Friday and condemned the border breach, which he described as “a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity.”
Sánchez blamed human smugglers for the disaster, saying they “deceive so many younger individuals and finally lead a lot of them to their deaths,” whether or not within the ocean or within the metropolis.
The Spanish Inside Ministry launched its personal figures shortly after Vivas spoke, estimating that some 50,000 individuals had crossed from Morocco since Thursday. It added that 48,300 had already returned to Morocco by Friday night, with a whole lot extra going again by the hour.
Rachid Sbihi, who leads a neighborhood employees affiliation representing Civil Guard officers, described the scenario as a “severe humanitarian disaster,” saying hundreds of migrants, together with unaccompanied kids, had been left sleeping in parks and on sidewalks, whereas others roamed the streets aimlessly.
“It’s chaotic,” Sbihi mentioned.
The Moroccan Inside Ministry didn’t reply to a request for touch upon the migrant figures launched by the Spanish authorities.
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European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen mentioned the photographs from Ceuta had been “unacceptable.”
“We can’t enable anybody to return to our Union with out abiding by our guidelines,” she mentioned Friday in a web-based assertion. “Harmful crossings should cease instantly. Smuggling networks should be dismantled. And returns should be swift, as our guidelines enable.”
Folks died in border chaos
A few of the 57 individuals who died had drowned, Sbihi mentioned, however some had been additionally killed in a stampede to cross the breakwater fence at Tarajal Seashore, an city seashore close to a border checkpoint with Morocco. The waters close to the border fence had been affected by buoys, footwear and different deserted belongings.
Many younger Moroccans who crossed into Ceuta advised The Related Press that they’d hoped to search out higher work alternatives in Spain however had been returning given the mayhem in Ceuta.
“There’s nothing at dwelling. I’d need to work 12-hour shifts for a meager wage. That’s why I got here right here,” mentioned 21-year-old Abdulah Buji, who hails from town of Tetouan. “However I haven’t discovered any alternatives right here both, so I’ve to return.”
Moroccan police used water cannons and fired warning pictures into the air to stop migrants from crossing into Ceuta, based on rights teams in Morocco.
FILE- Migrants return to Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Friday, July 31, 2026.
(AP Picture/Antonio Sempere)
Morocco’s ambassador to Spain mentioned the scenario in Ceuta had unfolded in opposition to Morocco’s needs.
“We now have at all times prioritized authorized, orderly and secure migration for all,” Karima Benyaich mentioned. She didn’t touch upon what prompted the migrants to cross into Ceuta.
To succeed in Ceuta, on the northern African coast, migrants usually swim from the Moroccan city of Fnideq, protecting about 3 miles (5 kilometers) to achieve Spanish territory. Others try the crossing from the close by city of Belyounech, the place the space is shorter.
Authorities in Ceuta and Madrid have linked the border surge to a current determination by the Spanish Supreme Court docket, which dominated that migrants arriving by sea couldn’t be summarily deported, not like those that cross by land or climb the border fence.
Sánchez mentioned migrant smugglers misinterpreted the ruling.
The interpretation of the Supreme Court docket’s ruling “unfold like wildfire over the previous few hours by the networks of human trafficking organizations,” triggering the surge, Sánchez mentioned.
Spain has bucked anti-immigration development
Sánchez has bucked the anti-migration development that has gained floor throughout Europe and within the U.S.
Earlier this yr, his authorities moved to provide residency and work permits to a whole lot of hundreds of migrants already dwelling within the nation with out permission.
Sánchez, a Socialist, argued that it could be good for the financial system and the demographics of an getting older Spain. Migrants who entered irregularly after Jan. 1 this yr weren’t included.
His critics jumped on the alternative to assault his coverage, saying it inspired extra migrants to return.
“Sánchez permits Spain to be invaded by Ceuta,” Spanish conservative politician Isabel Díaz Ayuso wrote on X.
The U.S. expressed its assist for “the individuals of Spain, and all Europeans, in opposition to this egregious violation of their sovereignty and human rights.”
In a publish on X, the State Division added that “this unacceptable incident is the direct results of the Spanish Authorities’s deliberate efforts to allow and facilitate mass unlawful migration into Europe.”
Sánchez on Friday defended his migration coverage and distanced it from the occasions in Ceuta.
FILE- A boy swims as he makes an attempt to cross from the Moroccan northern city of Fnideq to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Friday, July 31, 2026.
(AP Picture)
Within the tumult, Italy briefly suspended its open-border Schengen settlement with Spain, reimposing border controls for air and sea. The Inside Ministry mentioned the choice amounted to a “closure” of the borders, however consultants mentioned it was merely a resumption of border controls. The settlement permits vacationers to fly between the 2 nations with out presenting passports.
French Inside Minister Laurent Nunez mentioned France would additionally strengthen border checks with Spain.
The disaster in Ceuta “has nothing to do with the regularization of migrants adopted by the Authorities of Spain, as is being falsely claimed by some,” the Spanish authorities mentioned in an announcement late Thursday after Meloni’s announcement.
Stress grows on second Spanish territory in Africa
Migrants from Morocco additionally tried to cross into Melilla, the opposite Spanish territory on the tip of North Africa.
There was widespread chaos in Bni Nsar, the Moroccan city bordering the Spanish territory, the place migrants clashed with police, throwing rocks and setting police automobiles ablaze, based on native media and rights teams. They reported accidents amongst safety forces and the arrest of dozens of individuals making an attempt to cross.
Like Ceuta, Melilla is a self-governing Spanish metropolis. Many Moroccans think about each cities to be occupied territory.
Naishadham reported from Madrid. Brito reported from Barcelona, Spain. Related Press journalists Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain; Akram Oubachir in Casablanca, Morocco; and Antonio Sempere in Ceuta, Spain, contributed.
