Ceuta President Juan Jesus Vivas stated Thursday that an estimated 3,000 to five,000 migrants are nonetheless within the Spanish enclave after a mass crossing from Morocco late final month, when massive numbers of principally military-aged males entered the territory.
Talking by video hyperlink throughout a unprecedented session of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and House Affairs, Vivas additionally stated about 100 folks died through the surge.
Officers estimate that round 80,000 migrants entered Ceuta over a 48-hour span in late July.
Vivas described the border disaster as an “invasion” and referred to as it “some of the troublesome moments within the latest historical past of our metropolis.”
“In accordance with the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, an ‘invasion’ must be understood in its second definition because the irregular or irregular occupation of a particular place,” Vivas stated, in accordance with a Information Outlet translation of remarks he delivered in Spanish.
Migrants run and cheer as they cross on foot into the North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, after swimming over from the Moroccan aspect and overwhelming police on the metropolis’s breakwater, in accordance with Spain’s Guardia Civil, in Ceuta, Spain, July 30, 2026. (FARO TV through Reuters)
“That’s exactly what occurred on July 30 and 31, when roughly 80,000 folks — equal to the whole inhabitants of Ceuta — stormed into our metropolis. This characterization, furthermore, aligns with the assertion made by the President of the Authorities of Spain, who on Friday the thirty first, throughout his go to to Ceuta, said that we had been dealing with an assault, a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity,” Vivas continued.
Vivas, echoing earlier statements from Spain’s leftist President Pedro Sánchez and European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen, stated roughly 75,000 migrants had gone again to Morocco. Nonetheless, he warned that this “on no account does it enable us to assert that our metropolis has returned to regular.”
“Ceuta has not returned to regular as a result of between 3,000 and 5,000 individuals who entered throughout these fateful days of July 30 and 31 nonetheless stay,” Vivas stated. “The reception facilities for grownup and minor migrants are in a state of collapse, turning the inflow into a significant humanitarian emergency.”
“Added to this are disruptions to public order and a excessive danger to public security,” he continued. “Moreover, the morale of Ceuta’s residents is severely affected. Our inhabitants feels unhappy, helpless, uneasy, fearful, and fearful — and with good purpose. It’s inevitable to wonder if this may occur once more, and if that subsequent time would be the definitive plunge into the abyss, inflicting us to stop being what we’re: Spain and Europe. It has been uncovered to the world that we’re terribly susceptible, and that our safety and integrity are within the fingers of a 3rd nation, Morocco, which doesn’t acknowledge our sovereignty.”
Migrants wait outdoors Ceuta’s short-term migrant middle (CETI), which is presently at full capability, following mass crossings of migrants on foot and by sea from Morocco into Spanish territory, in Ceuta, Spain, Aug. 3, 2026. (Pedro Nunes/Reuters)
He then proposed a set of actions authorities ought to take to return town to regular. The proposals included expelling the remaining Moroccan migrants, provisioning extra assets for town’s migrant services, and the implementation of a brand new financial mannequin which he referred to as on to be “Extra Spain and Extra Europe.”
“We serve a society that has cast its character by means of braveness to endure and the power to beat adversity. We’re assured it should accomplish that once more, although I emphasize that the requested assist from European authorities stays indispensable. Thanks very a lot,” Vivas concluded.
Ceuta President Juan Jesus Vivas seen throughout a gathering on the Consolat de Mar on Aug. 6, 2026, in Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain. The assembly takes place only one week after the unprecedented migration disaster on the border between Ceuta and Morocco. (Javier Fernandez/Europa Press through Getty Photos)
Following the border rush between July 30–31, Sánchez referred to as the incident “an assault, a violation of the territorial integrity of Spain.”
Information Outlet contacted the governments of Spain and Ceuta for added remark.
