UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and the French president have offered assistance to Spain after a massive influx of migrants into Ceuta over a single day.
Ceuta, on Morocco’s northern coast and separated from mainland Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar, has long been a destination for people trying to reach Europe. Local officials had warned Madrid about a recent rise in attempted crossings, but chaotic scenes erupted on Thursday when border controls apparently failed.
Ceuta’s president, Juan Jesús Vivas, described the situation as “unsustainable,” saying the arrivals represented about 70% of the city’s population, which the latest local figures put at roughly 83,600. Spain’s Interior Ministry gave a lower estimate, reporting about 50,000 arrivals since the early hours of Thursday, and said more than 25,000 people had left Ceuta en route back to Morocco between Friday morning and 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT). The ministry added that departures were happening at a rate it put at 150 people per minute.
Madrid has deployed armed forces to strengthen security in Ceuta and in Melilla, the other Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast, where 300 to 400 crossings were also reported overnight.
During a visit to Ceuta, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the government would consider reinforcing the border with Morocco. He blamed criminal networks for exploiting a recent Supreme Court ruling and for the rapid spread of inaccurate information. Sánchez also said Moroccan authorities were cooperating in plans to return people who had entered illegally.
Ceuta and Melilla have been part of Spain since the 15th century and have had limited self-government since 1995. Coveted by Morocco, the enclaves are a recurrent flashpoint in Spanish-Moroccan relations and constitute the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.
One migrant speaking to Reuters as he prepared to return to Morocco said: “It’s not good at all, and it’s not fun either. I mean, people are dying here. I beg you, please, if you haven’t come yet, don’t come. Don’t do it.”
Local reports described streets in Ceuta in chaos and many residents too frightened to go outside. “Nobody is going out on the street. They’re afraid,” a resident told Spain’s ABC. A hospital security guard told the same site: “This is stronger and more aggressive than what we’ve experienced before.”
The last major surge occurred in 2021, though on a much smaller scale, when Moroccan authorities allowed about 8,000 people to cross amid a dispute with Madrid over Western Sahara. That diplomatic spat has resurfaced after Sánchez travelled to Algeria, which supports independence for the region.
BBC Verify reviewed UN migration data showing 2,826 people had crossed into Ceuta up to 15 July this year, with a further 181 entering via Melilla. Those totals were already higher than recent years: 994 migrants in 2025, 476 in 2024 and 467 in 2023.
