▲ Migrants attempting to enter Ceuta from Morocco
The Spanish government has deployed military personnel to tighten border controls after thousands of migrants rushed into Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city bordering Morocco in North Africa, foreign news outlets including Reuters reported on July 30 (local time).
According to reports, migrants in Morocco breached fences surrounding Ceuta or swam across the sea to enter the city that day.
Hundreds of migrants broke through the fences and swarmed in just minutes after midnight.
Some migrants were reported shouting "Long live Spain" as they entered Ceuta.
Moroccan police attempted to block them but were overwhelmed by the large crowd and lost control.
A spokesperson for the Spanish Civil Guard, the country's border patrol, stated that the scale of the migrant influx was too massive for police forces to handle.
Spanish state broadcaster TVE reported that 2,000 to 3,000 people had crossed the border over the past few days.
Casualties also mounted amid the chaos.
Local authorities stated that nine bodies, presumed to be migrants attempting to cross into Ceuta, were found along the coastline and other areas.
Including these latest fatalities, the death toll among migrants attempting to enter Ceuta over the past few months has reached around 60.
The Spanish government deployed 200 police officers and 60 military personnel from the mainland to Ceuta to reinforce local security forces.
As the situation on the ground became extremely chaotic, many shops in downtown Ceuta closed their doors.
Ceuta is a Spanish territory in North Africa with a population of 85,000.
Reuters noted that the situation is reminiscent of 2021, when about 10,000 migrants from Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa entered Ceuta over the course of a few days.
Because Ceuta shares a land border with the African continent, mass border-crossing attempts by migrants aiming to enter Europe occur periodically.
The Socialist government led by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has pursued relatively migrant-friendly policies in Europe.
Recently, it even launched a program granting legal residency status to approximately 500,000 undocumented migrants.
The opposition has criticized the Sánchez government, holding it responsible for the Ceuta crisis.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the main opposition Popular Party, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that "the situation in Ceuta is desperate" and "the government must not look away."
"We are facing a national security crisis," he wrote.
Juan Jesús Vivas, the mayor of Ceuta, also urged the central government that day to declare a state of emergency over the mass arrival.
In a TV interview, he appealed that "we are in a complete humanitarian and social emergency" and that there is no longer space to accommodate migrants.
The situation also appears to be spilling over into a diplomatic conflict between Spain and Italy.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani claimed on X that the scenes coming out of Ceuta demonstrate the failure of the Sánchez government's immigration policy.
He mentioned the Schengen Agreement—a system ensuring free movement by abolishing border checks among 29 European countries—and stated that he was "in favor of closing the Schengen agreement with Spain," which drew a backlash from Spain.
The Spanish government criticized Tajani's remarks as "inflammatory statements" and summoned the Italian ambassador in Madrid to deliver a formal protest, AFP reported.
The Spanish Ministry of the Interior stated that it had blocked thousands of illegal entries over the past few days and was cooperating closely with Moroccan authorities.
The ministry ruled out the possibility of declaring a state of emergency, reporting that it had agreed with the Moroccan government to return those who crossed into Ceuta as quickly as possible.
Prime Minister Sánchez wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that "[the central government] is mobilizing all necessary resources and working with Morocco and international relations authorities to prepare measures for normalization as soon as possible."
Sánchez plans to visit Ceuta to inspect the ground situation and order countermeasures.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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