CEUTA, Spain — Hundreds of migrants crossed the border from Morocco into the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta around midday on Thursday, marking a significant escalation in migratory pressure that has seen between 1,500 and 2,000 arrivals over the past ten days. The surge prompted the deployment of National Police riot units at the Tarajal border crossing in an attempt to contain the influx.
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According to on-the-ground reports, approximately 1,000 individuals gathered near the Tarajal jetty shortly before 1:00 p.m. In a notable shift from previous patterns, many migrants were able to reach Spanish soil simply by walking across the border area, reducing a crossing that typically requires a two- to four-hour swim to a matter of minutes. Dozens managed to reach the jetty and the border fencing without encountering an immediate police blockade, while others entered the water to swim along the perimeter or walked parallel to the fence line toward the Spanish side.
Earlier in the morning, hundreds of individuals who had swum across from the neighboring Moroccan town of Castillejos quickly dispersed from the Civil Guard processing area at the border. Following a recent Supreme Court ruling that ended the controversial practice of immediate “hot returns” at sea, authorities were tasked with processing the arrivals. However, overwhelmed by the volume, many migrants moved rapidly toward the nearby neighborhoods of El Príncipe and Juan XXIII, or headed to the Temporary Immigrant Stay Center (CETI). The scene was later marked by numerous abandoned flotation devices, wetsuits, and fins left in the water by those who had made the swim.
Reception facilities in the city, including centers for both adults and unaccompanied minors, are currently operating beyond capacity. National Police stations tasked with registering and processing the new arrivals are similarly saturated, stretching local resources to their limits.
In response to the crisis, the Spanish central government affirmed that Morocco is cooperating loyally and permanently to address the situation. Diplomatic sources from the Moroccan Embassy in Madrid echoed this sentiment, stating that the recent irregular entry attempts do not reflect any intention by Moroccan authorities to facilitate irregular migration and describing bilateral collaboration as exemplary. Spain’s Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has maintained continuous contact with his Moroccan counterpart, Abdelouafi Laftit, and is scheduled to travel to Ceuta to assess the evolving situation firsthand. Both nations have reportedly agreed to reinforce coordination and implement measures to facilitate the prompt return of individuals who have entered illegally.
The heightened activity has also carried a tragic toll. On Wednesday, the Civil Guard recovered the bodies of two migrants who had reportedly attempted to swim into the city in recent days. This brings the total number of migrant fatalities recorded along the Ceuta coastline this year to 29, with ten of those deaths occurring in July alone.
The current situation has drawn comparisons to the major diplomatic and migratory crisis of 2021, when over 12,000 people entered Ceuta irregularly. However, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has firmly dismissed any connection between the current influx and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s recent diplomatic visit to Algeria, maintaining that Spain’s relations with Morocco remain excellent and unaffected by its ties with Algiers. The events also coincided with the 27th anniversary of the enthronement of King Mohammed VI, who was hosting a reception in M’diq, located approximately 20 kilometers from Castillejos.
The mounting pressure has sparked intense political and social debate. Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas has characterized the situation as a “national emergency,” emphasizing that the city bears the unique burden of being the only land and sea border Spain and Europe share with Africa. He noted that the arrival of 1,500 people in a single week represents nearly 2 percent of Ceuta’s total population, and he has called for a decisive, coordinated response under a single command structure.
In contrast, sources from the central government at Moncloa have indicated that declaring a “national interest emergency” falls under civil protection regulations, which do not classify migratory flows as a risk within the National Civil Protection System. Consequently, the central government has stated that activating this specific emergency mechanism is not legally viable.
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Meanwhile, the humanitarian organization Sur Acoge has urged authorities to adequately dimension reception resources to handle the crisis with dignity. The NGO emphasized the critical need for sufficient capacity to protect unaccompanied minors in strict accordance with Spanish and international law. Furthermore, Sur Acoge argued that the complexity of the current arrivals, involving both land and sea routes, disproves theories that the influx is merely a “call effect” triggered by the recent Supreme Court ruling on maritime returns.
