Spain announced it was installing a 500-meter-long (1,600-foot) containment barrier on the sea border between its North African territory of Ceuta and neighbouring Morocco after between 50,000 and 60,000 migrants breached the frontier earlier this week.

The death toll climbed to 67, including some who drowned and others who were killed in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier, the Spanish government said Saturday (August 1, 2026).

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez slammed the reaction of some other European Union leaders to the events in Ceuta, saying calls for Spain to be suspended from the EU’s borderless Schengen zone were “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance, or political interest.” A handful of exhausted migrants who swam to Ceuta’s urban Tarajal beach Saturday (August 1) morning were met by soldiers who escorted them back across the border. Spain’s interior Ministry says the majority of those who entered the territory have already returned to Morocco.

“We are relentless against those who break the law,” Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told journalists in Ceuta on Saturday (Aug 1).

Questioned how this massive border breach could have happened given the heavy security on both sides of the border and whether Morocco posed a threat to Ceuta, Marlaska defended the government in Rabat.

“The events require an evaluation by Spain and Morocco,” he said. But it was the cooperation with its neighbours that allowed Spain “to reverse the situation in 24 hours.” “Morocco is not a threat to Ceuta, or to the rest of Spain. It is a reliable partner,” Marlaska emphasised.

EU leaders call for coordinated response

The leaders of 22 EU countries called for a coordinated response to the situation in Ceuta.

In a letter to top EU officials, released Saturday (August 1) by the Danish Prime Minister’s office, the countries asked the EU’s current Irish presidency to urgently convene an extraordinary videoconference of the bloc’s interior ministers.

“We cannot allow uncontrolled mass crossings, the instrumentalisation of migration, or other hybrid threats to create the perception that illegal entry into the European Union is possible; that a migrant’s illegal entry can turn into a legal stay,” the letter said. “Such a perception would encourage further attempts, undermine confidence in our common migration policy, and have repercussions for all Member States.” The letter was signed by the leaders of Italy, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Sweden.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Sanchez, also asked for a videoconference of EU Interior Ministers to “enable us to establish a common response to situations of this kind and reaffirm that the security of our external borders is a shared responsibility of all Member States, and not only of those on the Union’s front line.” Mr. Sanchez slammed the reaction of some EU nations who he said had “chosen to attack Spain and to call for its temporary exclusion from the Schengen Area.” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has threatened to suspend Italy’s open-border Schengen agreement with Spain, and Italy was reimposing border controls for people arriving from Spain by air and sea.

“In the current international context, the European Union cannot afford this kind of selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction,” Mr. Sanchez wrote in his letter.

Migrants head back into Morocco

Hundreds of migrants who recently crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta streamed back across the border on Saturday(August 1), telling an Associated Press reporter they were returning “of their own free will” after what they described as degrading treatment on the Spanish side.

Migrants walked along a long stretch of wave breakers before slipping into Morocco through a small breach in the border fence that had become an informal entry point. Moroccan police and soldiers stood by, watching. Most of the migrants were Moroccans, while a smaller number were from sub-Saharan Africa.

Hungry and angry, some barefoot or shirtless and others nursing visible injuries, those who returned said they had “seen hell in Ceuta.” “I decided to come back on my own,” said Ouail Lamzeiz. “I spent eight days in Ceuta, and I was about to get a bed at the migrant centre, but I hadn’t eaten for days. Even the Moroccans there didn’t help,” he added, showing a document supporting his account.

His friend, Salah Eddine El Arrage, said he decided to return to Morocco after, he said, Spanish police beat him.

Migrants interviewed by The Associated Press said they spent their nights sleeping in the forests around Ceuta because they could not find shelter, and that they often fought over food.

One, Othmane El Merzoug, stopped passersby to ask for a phone call so he could reach his family and ask them to send money for the journey back to his hometown, about 189 miles (305 kilometres) from the border.

The road linking the Moroccan town of Fnideq to the border crossing bore the scars of the previous night’s unrest. Burned-out vehicles sat along the roadside, while the acrid smell of smoke still hung in the air. Police barriers channelled traffic toward the crossing, and water cannons remained stationed nearby.

“Life in this city has been disrupted as a result of the border incident,” said Ceuta’s President Juan Jesús Vivas. “The return of people has begun satisfactorily, but the process must be completed.” In the Moroccan city of Tangier, about 75 kilometres (46 miles) west of Ceuta, the main railway station was busy with people returning from Ceuta or the border. Some slept on the ground, exhausted.

“I tried to cross, but I failed. I stayed near the border with Ceuta for two days, but I couldn’t find anything to eat,” said Abdalah, an aspiring migrant who asked that his last name not be published out of fear of retaliation for trying to cross illegally.

But some who made it to Ceuta were determined to stay. Among them was Mohamed Hatri, a 23-year-old Moroccan.

“They’ve closed everything down so that we can’t buy anything to eat, to force us to return to our country,” he said. “But even if they close it down, we’re round to stay here, whether we’re hungry or not,” — Oubachir reported from Fnideq, Morocco. Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain and Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece contributed to this report.

After up to 60,000 migrants streamed into Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, most by Saturday (August 1, 2026) have now left, according to officials.

But the scenes have been seized upon by right-wing politicians as showing a weakness in EU border management and raised questions about why Morocco allowed so many migrants to head to Ceuta’s border.

Number of migrants

An estimated 60,000 migrants entered into the territory of Ceuta — whose population is just 84,000 — in less than three days, between Wednesday (July 29, 2026) and Friday (July 31, 2026), Ceuta’s top official, Juan Jesus Vivas, said. The Spanish Interior Ministry put the figure at 50,000.

By late morning Saturday (July 31, 2026), “almost all” had left and the situation in the territory had practically returned to normal, Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said.

The Minister said at least 67 people had died trying to reach Ceuta.

The scale of the influx was far bigger than the last similar event in May 2021, when around 12,000 crossed the border from Morocco into Ceuta over two days, Vivas said at the time.

What is Morocco doing?

Ignacio Cembrero, a Spanish journalist specialised in migration in North Africa, said it appeared Moroccan security forces had been “sitting on their hands” since Wednesday (July 29, 2026).

“To reach the breakwater that marks the border between Ceuta and Morocco, there are cordons of police and auxiliary forces, and it’s obvious they’ve been allowed through,” he said.

Why now?

It was not clear why this suddenly happened now.

One possible reason for the time could be Spain’s Supreme Court ruling on July 8 that migrants arriving by sea should not be returned as quickly as others.

“Without a doubt, the July 8 ruling… has played a role,” Cembrero said. “But that doesn’t explain the level of mobilisation.”

Others have suggested the Spanish government’s relatively open migration policy could have played a part.

Leverage for Morocco?

Some analysts say Morocco is using the migration issue as a tool of diplomatic pressure.

Morocco has claimed sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla since its independence in 1956 — Spain has flatly rejected any talks to change the status quo.

Cembrero said Morocco had “seen an opportunity” to force Spain to negotiate.

Can the migrants travel to the rest of the EU?

No. Spanish officials stressed that, under Schengen Area rules, Ceuta and another enclave, Melilla, have specific procedures in place applying border controls for anybody boarding air or sea transport to mainland Europe.

Irregular entry into Ceuta does not confer a right to remain in Spain, travel to the mainland, or move freely throughout Europe, they said.

None of the people who entered Ceuta irregularly left the city for the European mainland, nor would they be able to, the officials said.

Other countries’ reactions

Despite the barrier to any of the migrants heading to mainland Europe, Italy announced on Friday (July 31, 2026) that it was temporarily suspending Schengen rules allowing border-free travel with Spain.

The decision has been slammed by Madrid, and its practical effect remains unclear, as Italy and Spain do not share a border. Legal experts consulted by AFP said the move by Rome’s right-wing government was impossible to implement under the current legal framework.

France and Britain have expressed “solidarity” with Spain. But France also announced a five-fold increase in the number of police at the border it shares with Spain.

Portugal also said it would beef up controls at its southern land and maritime borders.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has made anti-immigration policies a centrepiece of his time in the White House, on Friday (July 31, 2026) called the migrant inflow into Ceuta a “catastrophe” and an “invasion”.

He sought to tie it to mid-term elections he faces in November, saying, “That same thing’s going to happen to us if the Republicans don’t get elected, except worse, much bigger.”

Published – August 01, 2026 05:53 pm IST

Migrants walk towards the border with Morocco to leave Spain, amid mass crossings of migrants on foot and by sea from Morocco into Spanish territory, in Ceuta, on July 31, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Spain will deploy its military to restore order at its border with Morocco in Ceuta after thousands of migrants streamed into the tiny Spanish territory, with at least nine dying in the attempt.

The announcement came after local authorities in Ceuta had asked the central government in Madrid for reinforcements to manage a border crisis that boiled over Thursday (July 30, 2026) with large crowds of people breaching the border fence.

Spain’s government said it would send the Armed Forces to help the Civil Guard “maintain security in the city of Ceuta”.

It also announced that Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez would join Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska in a visit to Ceuta on Friday (July 31, 2026).

“The situation is absolute chaos,” Rachid Sbihi, head of the association that represents Spain’s Civil Guard officers who police the border in Ceuta, told The Associated Press. “It’s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing,” he said, adding that the border had “totally collapsed”.

Achraf Maimouni, a member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights in northern Morocco, described the situation as “exceptional”.

“The Tarajal border was opened under unusual circumstances this morning and people crossed,” he said.

Video footage showed crowds of people, mainly Moroccans, walking around the breakwaters at Tarajal beach onto local roads. While most appeared to be young men, there were also families with women and small children.

“Viva Espana!” some shouted to a freelance photographer working for the AP. It was not immediately clear what prompted so many migrants to cross to Ceuta.

Spain’s government delegation in Ceuta said at least nine people died Thursday (July 30, 2026) during the chaos. It did not provide details on the circumstances of the deaths but bodies could be seen floating in the water. Dozens have died this year trying to reach Ceuta, according to local authorities.

Arrivals increasing, but reasons unclear

The escalation at the frontier between Spain and Morocco comes after a surge in migrants attempting to reach the small exclave, mainly by swimming, on Wednesday (July 29, 2026).

Moroccan authorities have not publicly commented on the crossings, and Morocco’s Interior Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Spain’s Interior Ministry said the Moroccan government was “closely cooperating” with Spain to handle the situation and that Moroccan police are stopping “numerous people” who are trying to cross the border. Both countries agreed to work together “for the return, as soon as possible, of all the people who entered Ceuta illegally.” The Ministry earlier said it would guarantee the safety of citizens and the integrity of the nation’s border but that the Spanish government could not declare a national emergency — as local authorities had asked — over migration concerns.

The chaos had ripple effects in Italy, another key destination for migrants. Premier Giorgia Meloni threatened to suspend Italy’s open-border Schengen agreement with Spain “to defend our borders and ensure the safety of our citizens,” though Italy doesn’t share a border with Spain.

Ceuta authorities had previously linked the surge to a Spanish Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that barred authorities from immediately returning migrants who arrive by sea without due process.

The ruling does not apply to migrants who enter Spain by land, including by climbing over the border fence.

But some activists in Morocco expressed doubt that the ruling was behind the surge, arguing most migrants would have been unaware of such legal decisions.

Spain is a main point of arrival into Europe for migrants seeking better economic opportunities or an escape from violence in their home countries.

To reach Ceuta, located on the northern African coast, migrants often swim from the Moroccan town of Fnideq, covering about 3.1 miles (5 km) to reach Spanish territory. Others attempt the crossing from the nearby town of Belyounech, where the distance is shorter.

The scenes of people streaming across the frontier recall the border crisis of May 2021 when more than 8,000 migrants poured into Ceuta in just two days.

At the time, Morocco was accused of easing border controls and allowing migrants to cross into Ceuta after Spain allowed Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali to receive treatment at a Spanish hospital, triggering a diplomatic crisis between Rabat and Madrid.

The pro-independence Polisario Front for decades has claimed to be the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people of the Western Sahara. Morocco claims Western Sahara as its own.

Ceuta authorities ask Madrid to declare emergency, send Army

Juan Jesus Vivas, the head of Ceuta’s regional government, called for the national government to declare an emergency on grounds of national security, asking for more police and for the army to be deployed on the border “to guarantee the inviolability of the frontier and citizen safety”.

He had warned Wednesday (July 29, 2026) that migrant reception centres were overwhelmed with hundreds of people sleeping on the streets after more than 1,500 migrants entered the territory in the past week. Thousands more crossed overnight and on Thursday (July 30, 2026).

Spain’s Interior Ministry, which tracks irregular migration, would not confirm the number of migrants who had made it to Ceuta in the last few days but said it would publish its next migration report on Aug 3. As of July 15, nearly 3,000 migrants had entered Ceuta by land or sea this year, according to ministry figures.

Legislation covering a declaration of national emergencies does not consider migration flows as a risk to national security, according to the Ministry, which said government agencies are “coordinating to respond with speed and efficacy to the situation in Ceuta”.

Ceuta, which is perched on a historical isthmus, has been a Spanish possession since 1580. Its mixed population of Christians and Muslims, Spanish and Moroccan residents and day workers, lives in relative harmony behind a border fence that many desperate migrants from across Africa attempt to cross for a better life in Europe.

Published – July 31, 2026 10:50 am IST