Thread: 60K migrants enter Spain’s Ceuta, many return to Morocco after crackdown | +Updates

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60K migrants enter Spain’s Ceuta, many return to Morocco after crackdown

By Sergio Rodrigo Ruíz, Renata Brito And Suman Naishadham The Associated Press
Posted July 31, 2026 8:59 am
Updated July 31, 2026 5:45 pm
6 min read
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Spanish authorities have been trying to turn away thousands of people who suddenly tried to enter its territory from Morocco. Migration has been a logistical and political challenge for European leaders for decades. The number of people trying to enter the EU now though appears to be unprecedented. Nathaniel Dove has the latest on why so many people tried at once and what's going to happen to them.

Tens of thousands of migrants who crossed into Spain’s tiny Ceuta territory returned voluntarily to Morocco on Friday, a day after the influx triggered chaos in the North African city and reignited the immigration debate in Europe and beyond.
At least 57 migrants died on the journey.

Ceuta’s president put the number of migrants at 60,000, which was equivalent to 70% of the territory’s population. But most of them soon went back, the Spanish government said, after the sudden arrival of so many people sparked a humanitarian crisis.

Some migrants swam several miles through the sea and faced down authorities who tried to turn them back with water cannons, tear gas and warning shots. Those who died included some who drowned or were killed in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier near a border checkpoint.

Spain deployed its armed forces and additional police to restore order in Ceuta, which sits on the Strait of Gibraltar at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea and has been a Spanish possession since 1580. On the Moroccan side of the border, security forces clashed with migrants. The chaos also had ripple effects abroad, with Italy and France pledging to tighten their controls on people arriving from Spain.

“The situation that Ceuta is going through is absolutely unsustainable,” Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas told journalists.
Meanwhile, migrants from Morocco also attempted to cross into Melilla, Spain’s other territory at the tip of North Africa, where they clashed with police.


2:17 Spain’s Ceuta migrant crossing leaves at least 41 dead, many return back to Morocco

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 crisis, saying they “deceive so many young people and ultimately lead many of them to their deaths,” whether in the ocean or in the city.

The Spanish Interior Ministry released its own figures shortly after Vivas spoke, estimating that some 50,000 people had crossed from Morocco since Thursday. It added that 48,300 had already returned to Morocco by Friday evening, with hundreds more going back by the hour.

Rachid Sbihi, who leads a local workers association representing Civil Guard officers, described the situation as a “serious humanitarian crisis,” saying thousands of migrants, including unaccompanied children, were left sleeping in parks and on sidewalks, while others roamed the streets aimlessly.

“It’s chaotic,” Sbihi said.

The Moroccan Interior Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the migrant figures released by the Spanish authorities.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the images from Ceuta were “unacceptable.”

“We cannot allow anyone to come to our Union without abiding by our rules,” she said Friday in an online statement.
“Dangerous crossings must stop immediately. Smuggling networks must be dismantled. And returns must be swift, as our rules allow.”


1:41 Thousands of migrants cross into Spain’s Ceuta enclave from Morocco

People died in border chaos
Some of the 57 people who died had drowned, Sbihi said, but some were also killed in a stampede to cross the breakwater fence at Tarajal Beach, an urban beach near a border checkpoint with Morocco. The waters near the border fence were littered with buoys, shoes and other abandoned belongings.

Many young Moroccans who crossed into Ceuta told The Associated Press that they had hoped to find better work opportunities in Spain but were returning given the mayhem in Ceuta.

“There’s nothing at home. I’d have to work 12-hour shifts for a meager wage. That’s why I came here,” said 21-year-old Abdulah Buji, who hails from the city of Tetouan. “But I haven’t found any opportunities here either, so I have to go back.”

Moroccan police used water cannons and fired warning shots into the air to prevent migrants from crossing into Ceuta, according to rights groups in Morocco.

View image in full screen

FILE- Migrants return to Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Sempere)

Morocco’s ambassador to Spain said the situation in Ceuta had unfolded against Morocco’s wishes.

“We have always prioritized legal, orderly and safe migration for all,” Karima Benyaich said. She did not comment on what prompted the migrants to cross into Ceuta.

To reach Ceuta, on the northern African coast, migrants often swim from the Moroccan town of Fnideq, covering about 3 miles (5 kilometers) to reach Spanish territory. Others attempt the crossing from the nearby town of Belyounech, where the distance is shorter.

Authorities in Ceuta and Madrid have linked the border surge to a recent decision by the Spanish Supreme Court, which ruled that migrants arriving by sea could not be summarily deported, unlike those who cross by land or climb the border fence.

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Sánchez said migrant smugglers misinterpreted the ruling.

The interpretation of the Supreme Court’s ruling “spread like wildfire over the past few hours through the networks of human trafficking organizations,” triggering the surge, Sánchez said.

Spain has bucked anti-immigration trend
Sánchez has bucked the anti-migration trend that has gained ground across Europe and in the U.S.

Earlier this year, his government moved to give residency and work permits to hundreds of thousands of migrants already living in the country without permission.

Sánchez, a Socialist, argued that it would be good for the economy and the demographics of an aging Spain. Migrants who entered irregularly after Jan. 1 this year were not included.

His critics jumped at the opportunity to attack his policy, saying it encouraged more migrants to come.

“Sánchez allows Spain to be invaded through Ceuta,” Spanish conservative politician Isabel Díaz Ayuso wrote on X.

The U.S. expressed its support for “the people of Spain, and all Europeans, against this egregious violation of their sovereignty and human rights.”

In a post on X, the State Department added that “this unacceptable incident is the direct result of the Spanish Government’s deliberate efforts to enable and facilitate mass illegal migration into Europe.”

Sánchez on Friday defended his migration policy and distanced it from the events in Ceuta.

View image in full screen
FILE- A boy swims as he attempts to cross from the Moroccan northern town of Fnideq to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo)

In the tumult, Italy temporarily suspended its open-border Schengen agreement with Spain, reimposing border controls for air and sea. The Interior Ministry said the decision amounted to a “closure” of the borders, but experts said it was merely a resumption of border controls. The agreement allows travelers to fly between the two countries without presenting passports.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said France would also strengthen border checks with Spain.

The crisis in Ceuta “has nothing to do with the regularization of migrants adopted by the Government of Spain, as is being falsely claimed by some,” the Spanish government said in a statement late Thursday after Meloni’s announcement.

Pressure grows on second Spanish territory in Africa
Migrants from Morocco also attempted to cross into Melilla, the other Spanish territory at the tip of North Africa.

There was widespread chaos in Bni Nsar, the Moroccan town bordering the Spanish territory, where migrants clashed with police, throwing rocks and setting police vehicles ablaze, according to local media and rights groups. They reported injuries among security forces and the arrest of dozens of people attempting to cross.

Like Ceuta, Melilla is a self-governing Spanish city. Many Moroccans consider both cities to be occupied territory.
Naishadham reported from Madrid. Brito reported from Barcelona, Spain. Associated Press journalists Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain; Akram Oubachir in Casablanca, Morocco; and Antonio Sempere in Ceuta, Spain, contributed.

60K migrants enter Spain’s Ceuta, many return to Morocco after crackdown - National | Globalnews.ca

84 Thousand Residents in that Town
Men
Women
Elderly
Children

60,000 Fighting Age Men (Invaders)
(No Food; No Money)

Its Gonna Get Really Bad; Really Fast

Spain says migrants leaving Ceuta after mass influx in which 67 died

EU ministers to hold meeting next week to coordinate bloc’s response to crisis in North African Spanish enclave.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/...-which-67-died


Members of Spain's Guardia Civil USECIC tactical reserve unit block migrants who crossed the border from Morocco, on Tarajal beach in Ceuta, Spain [Adri Salido/Getty Images]



By Al Jazeera Staff and Reuters

Published On 1 Aug 2026

Spain says “virtually all” of the estimated 60,000 migrants who stormed its North African enclave of Ceuta by land and sea in recent days have already left again voluntarily, as European nations plan to hold a meeting to coordinate their response to the crisis.

The number of people who had died trying to enter Ceuta was raised to at least 67 on Saturday, Spanish officials said, adding there could be additional casualties on the Moroccan side of the border. Some of the confirmed dead had drowned, and ⁠some were crushed while trying to climb the breakwater that holds the border fence.

• Second day of Spain – Morocco border clashes amid mass migrant influx
• At least 18 die as thousands cross from Morocco into enclave of Ceuta
• At least 57 dead after 60,000 breach border from Morocco into Spain’s Ceuta
• Spain deploys military to Ceuta after migrant surge: What we know

“Virtually all those who entered Ceuta have now returned to Morocco,” Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares, wrote on X on Friday night.

The mass influx of migrants had dismayed European Union governments, and particularly those in the Schengen area – 29 countries that have abolished border controls for travel between them.

The EU said it will hold a video meeting on Tuesday after 22 bloc members issued a joint open letter on Saturday calling for a meeting of interior ministers “as a matter of urgency” to agree a speedy coordinated response, and to “prevent further uncontrolled crossings.”

Denmark and Italy had spearheaded the letter. Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of ⁠the EU, said on ⁠Saturday it had convened a meeting of ⁠the EU Justice ⁠and Home Affairs ⁠Council, chaired by Irish Justice, Home Affairs *and Migration Minister Jim O’Callaghan.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on X, “Defending the external borders of the Union is not the interest of a single Nation. It is a shared responsibility of Europe.”

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Friday described the images from Ceuta as “unacceptable”, while French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said France would tighten its borders with Spain.

‘Violation of territorial sovereignty’
Spain’s Interior Ministry said about 50,000 people had crossed the border from Morocco to Ceuta since Thursday morning, and estimated that 48,300 had returned by 6pm (16:00 GMT) on Friday.

Juan Jesus Vivas, head of Ceuta’s local government, said as many as 60,000 people had pushed across over the past couple of days.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who travelled to Ceuta on Friday, said the mass crossing represented “a violation of Spain’s territorial sovereignty”.

Spain announced it was installing a containment barrier along the breakwater fence into the sea.

Ceuta’s Vivas on Saturday called for action to complete the return of all those who entered the city and strengthen security for Ceuta’s residents.

According to statements reported by Spanish media, he said that the situation has not yet returned to normal and urged Spain to enable security forces and the army to complete the return of remaining migrants.

Vivas said more people and technology was needed to allow the Tarajal border crossing to fulfil its role as the EU’s external border crossing in Africa.

Moroccan police in riot gear used tear gas and water cannon trucks at the enclave’s border on Friday night to disperse people gathered near the fences and push them back.

“Honestly, I don’t even know why I came, and now I’m going back,” a young Moroccan man, who said he was from Tangier, told Reuters. “I haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday, even though I brought some money with me … What we’re doing is neither good nor enjoyable.”

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  Ceuta border crisis: More migrants crossed into the Spanish territory

Ceuta, together with Melilla – another autonomous *Spanish city in North Africa – represents the European Union’s only land border with Africa. Both cities often experience surges in attempted crossings by people seeking to migrate to Europe.

To reach Ceuta, migrants often swim from the Moroccan town of Fnideq, covering about 5km (3 miles) to reach Spanish territory. Others attempt the crossing from the nearby town of Belyounech, where the distance is shorter.

Ceuta authorities linked the surge in attempted crossings to a Spanish Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that prevented authorities from immediately returning migrants who arrive by sea. The ruling does not apply to migrants who enter Spain by land, including by climbing over the border fence.

Sanchez said on Friday that the influx of migrants was caused by mafias spreading rumours about this court ruling. But activists in Morocco expressed doubt that the ruling was behind the surge, arguing most migrants would have been unaware of such legal decisions.

Although the crossing appeared blocked later on Friday, many migrants still moved along the coast, seeking routes around the fence.

“I was late,” said Brahim, 32, who had arrived from Tangier hoping to cross through the gate, but found it effectively shut.