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Ceuta surge and deaths
Tens of thousands of migrants crossed into Spain’s tiny Ceuta territory from Morocco, overwhelming the city and triggering chaos that left at least 57 migrants dead on the journey, according to the Associated Press and the Guardian.
“At least 57 migrants died on the journey.”
Ceuta’s president Juan Jesús Vivas put the number of migrants at 60,000, and the Spanish government said most of them soon returned voluntarily to Morocco after the influx sparked a humanitarian crisis.
Spain deployed its armed forces and additional police to restore order in Ceuta, which sits on the Strait of Gibraltar and has been a Spanish possession since 1580, while security forces clashed with migrants on the Moroccan side of the border.
The Associated Press reported that some of the 57 deaths included people drowned or killed in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier near a border checkpoint, and the Guardian said many drowned while some were killed in a crush to cross the breakwater fence at Tarajal beach.
The Guardian tied the mass crossing to a recent Spanish supreme court decision, quoting Pedro Sánchez saying it “has produced an avalanche of the characteristics and dimension that we experienced yesterday.”
Sánchez, Vivas, and Europe
Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas told journalists, “The situation that Ceuta is going through is absolutely unsustainable,” as Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez visited the city and condemned the border breach as “a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity.”
Sánchez blamed human smugglers, saying they “deceive so many young people and ultimately lead many of them to their deaths,” whether in the ocean or in the city, while the Guardian reported he attributed the mass crossing to “human trafficking mafias.”
The Associated Press said the Spanish Interior Ministry estimated that some 50,000 people had crossed from Morocco since Thursday and that 48,300 had already returned to Morocco by Friday evening, with hundreds more going back by the hour.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the images from Ceuta were “unacceptable,” and she added, “Dangerous crossings must stop immediately.”
The Guardian reported that EU member states were set to meet under the Integrated Political Crisis Response mechanism, and it said a further meeting of EU ambassadors was called in Brussels on Monday.
Schengen fallout and next steps
Italy temporarily suspended the Schengen free-travel pact with Spain for one month after the influx into Ceuta, with Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani writing on X that it was “a necessary decision to protect the security of our citizens and defend Europe's borders.”
“Practically the entirety of those who entered Ceuta have already returned to Morocco”
DW reported that Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the integrity of the Schengen free-travel area was “guaranteed,” adding that “Practically the entirety of those who entered Ceuta have already returned to Morocco.”
The Guardian said Spain’s interior ministry reported that more than 48,300 people had voluntarily returned to Morocco by 6pm on Friday, and it described Sánchez’s plan for a temporary reception centre to facilitate documentation, registration, triage and “expedited” expulsion.
The Guardian also reported that Sánchez said the government would erect a visible barrier—“a line of buoys”—near the breakwater at Ceuta’s Tarajal beach to make it clear where the border was and to legally comply with the court’s ruling.
In parallel, the Associated Press said the chaos had ripple effects abroad, with Italy and France pledging to tighten their controls on people arriving from Spain, while migrants from Morocco also attempted to cross into Melilla and clashed with police.
