Tens of Thousands of Migrants Cross into Spanish Enclave of Ceuta, Triggering EU Tensions

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Ceuta, Spain

Coverage spread: 10 sources — 1 left · 1 right · 8 international

Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.

Where they agree

  • Between roughly 50,000 and 60,000 mostly Moroccan migrants entered Ceuta over about 24 hours starting July 30, with most later returning to Morocco.
  • At least 67-72 people died attempting the crossing, many drowning in the strait.
  • Spain’s government blames traffickers who exploited a Spanish Supreme Court ruling limiting immediate returns of migrants arriving by sea.
  • The episode caused a diplomatic rupture, with Italy suspending its Schengen arrangement with Spain and the EU calling an emergency ministers’ meeting.

Where they differ

  • Al Jazeera’s opinion piece raises the possibility of Israeli involvement or encouragement behind the crisis, a theory not mentioned by BBC, Fox News, France24 or the Guardian.
  • Fox News frames the story heavily around Sánchez’s criticism of Meloni and quotes his letter at length, casting Spain as unfairly attacked.
  • The Guardian and Al Jazeera’s on-the-ground features center personal migrant accounts and eyewitness detail (e.g., Youssef El Abbas’s swim, Moroccan police behavior), while BBC and France24 focus more on the EU-level diplomatic mechanics.
  • Sources differ on exact figures: Al Jazeera cites Ceuta’s official estimate of 60,000 versus the interior ministry’s 50,000, and death tolls range from 67 to 72 depending on the outlet and date.

An estimated 50,000 to 60,000 migrants, most of them Moroccan, swam or forced their way across the border from Morocco into Ceuta, Spain’s North African enclave, over a 24-hour span starting Wednesday, July 30. At least 67 to 72 people died trying to reach the territory. By the weekend, Spanish authorities said the vast majority had voluntarily returned to Morocco, but the episode triggered a diplomatic clash across the European Union over migration policy.

What actually happened at the border?

Ceuta, a Spanish city of about 84,000 people on Africa’s northern coast, was overwhelmed when tens of thousands of people — mostly young Moroccan men — swam through or around the border fence, climbed a breakwater, or rushed checkpoints in numbers guards couldn’t control. Many used wetsuits and inflatables; one migrant, Youssef El Abbas, told the Guardian he swam about five minutes across the water after Moroccan police, who had been beating people the night before, suddenly began waving crowds through and shouting “Go, go, go!” He said only Moroccans were let through, while sub-Saharan migrants were pushed back. In the water, he said he saw four bodies. Ceuta’s top official, Juan Jesús Vivas, put the total at around 60,000; Spain’s interior ministry cited 50,000. By comparison, the last major surge, in May 2021, involved about 12,000 people over two days. Businesses in Ceuta shut and shelters were overwhelmed. Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said by Saturday “almost all” migrants had left and normal life had resumed; Spain has also begun installing a floating barrier in the water to deter further crossings.

What triggered such a sudden, coordinated surge?

No outlet offers a confirmed answer, and several competing theories are circulating. Spanish officials point to a Spanish Supreme Court ruling from July 8 that bars authorities from immediately returning migrants who arrive by sea (it does not apply to those who cross by land or fence). Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says trafficking networks exaggerated that ruling on social media to convince people a legal path to Europe now existed, and migrants described seeing posts urging them to “go to Spain” for jobs and money. But migration journalist Ignacio Cembrero told AFP the ruling alone doesn’t explain the scale of mobilization, since few migrants would even know about it. Others suggest Moroccan authorities themselves may have deliberately eased border controls — possibly linked to Morocco’s territorial dispute with Spain over Ceuta and Melilla, or as a signal of displeasure over Sánchez’s recent visit to Algeria, a supporter of Western Sahara’s independence movement. A separate Al Jazeera opinion piece raises speculation, amplified by Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente, that Israel may have had some hand in stoking the crisis in apparent retaliation for Spain’s criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza and its recognition of a Palestinian state — a claim fueled by an Israeli UN ambassador’s pointed social media remarks but not established as fact by any outlet.

How did European governments react, and why the rift?

Sánchez has accused fellow EU leaders of exploiting the crisis politically rather than showing solidarity, calling some reactions “selfish, polarising and unlawful” and, in a letter to EU officials, saying they were “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance, or political interest.” He noted Ceuta isn’t part of the Schengen zone, so arrivals there were never going to move freely into mainland Europe, and cited Frontex data suggesting Spain’s external border is less porous than Italy’s. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right party publicized images of migrants running through Ceuta’s streets as an attack on “the Sánchez model,” and Meloni suspended Italy’s Schengen arrangement with Spain for a month, citing security concerns — a largely symbolic move since the two countries don’t share a land border. Finland and Denmark backed Italy’s stance; France announced a fivefold increase in border police near Spain; Britain and France also voiced “solidarity” with Madrid. Twenty-two of the EU’s 27 member states signed a joint letter to EU Council President António Costa, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin (Ireland holds the rotating EU presidency) demanding coordinated action and stronger external borders, warning against letting illegal entry appear to lead to legal status. Sánchez requested, and got, an emergency meeting of EU interior ministers, held Tuesday.

What’s the domestic political fallout in Spain?

Spanish opposition politicians have blamed Sánchez’s left-wing government’s immigration policies, with some calling the surge “an invasion.” The government previously moved to let hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants already in Spain apply for residency and work permits, arguing an aging Spain needs workers — though that program had already closed and wasn’t what drew people to Ceuta’s beaches this week. Far-right figures also seized the moment: Zia Yusuf of the UK’s Reform UK party traveled to Ceuta to film migrants for social media. Separately, mourners gathered for a Moroccan footballer who died attempting the crossing, underscoring the human toll behind the political dispute.

Sources

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