Ceuta migrant crisis escalates as thousands enter Spanish enclave overnight
Thousands of people crossed from Morocco into Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta overnight, according to a police source speaking on Friday. In recent days the total number of arrivals has reached around 40,000, a figure that has put heavy pressure on a territory whose normal population is only about 80,000.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was scheduled to arrive in Ceuta along with the interior minister to assess the situation at the Tarajal border. Madrid has already deployed extra troops to strengthen security in the enclave. The sudden surge has also prompted France to tighten checks on its own border with Spain.
AFP reporters on the ground watched hundreds of men, women and children swim around the border barrier, discarding flotation rings and wet clothes once they reached Spanish soil. So far 18 people have died while trying to make the dangerous crossing, the same police source confirmed. “There was a steady stream of people all night long,” the source said, noting that arrivals continued into early Friday morning.
The reason for the latest wave is still unclear. In 2021 a similar mass crossing of more than 10,000 people took place when Morocco briefly loosened border controls during a diplomatic dispute with Spain. That earlier crisis was linked to Madrid’s decision to host a leader of the Polisario Front, the group seeking independence for Western Sahara.
This time the scenes in Ceuta have already produced diplomatic friction. Italy called for Spain to be suspended from Europe’s open-borders Schengen zone, a demand that led Spain to summon Italy’s ambassador and accuse Rome of political opportunism. Two senior figures in the US White House also used video of the Ceuta crossings to push anti-immigration messages.
Inside the enclave, many newly arrived migrants walked the streets openly, thanking Spanish police and calling out “Bye bye Morocco, hello Spain.” Officers and Civil Guards largely guided people toward the local reception centre rather than blocking them. Morocco has not yet issued an official public statement, though a source in Rabat confirmed the two governments have spoken about the situation.
Ceuta and the nearby enclave of Melilla remain Europe’s only land borders with Africa. Their small size and strategic location mean any large influx quickly becomes a national and European issue. As Sanchez prepares to visit the border, Spanish authorities face the dual challenge of managing humanitarian needs while preventing further uncontrolled entries.
The latest Ceuta migrant crisis once again highlights how quickly border tensions can flare between Spain and Morocco, and how rapidly they can ripple across the wider European Union.
