The Ceuta migration crisis

More than 70,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta on July 30-31, in a surge that killed at least 80-100 people who died attempting to swim around the border fence; while most returned to Morocco within hours, an estimated 5,000-8,000 remained a month later, sleeping in makeshift camps on Trampolin Beach and city streets, including over 1,000 unaccompanied minors. Rising tensions produced near-daily protests by Ceuta residents demanding the migrants be removed, escalating into violence in late August -- locals blocked Red Cross aid deliveries, burned migrant tents, and clashed with police, while 12 migrants were arrested after allegedly stoning a military vehicle. On September 2, roughly 50,000 people rallied in Madrid alone, with tens of thousands more protesting across Spain and in Ceuta itself on Ceuta Day, chanting 'Ceuta is not for sale' and 'expel the invaders'; opposition Popular Party and far-right Vox leaders accused Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government of abandoning the city, while Sanchez blamed trafficking gangs, a misread Spanish Supreme Court ruling, and online disinformation -- some of it, he said without offering proof, amplified by Russian and Israeli-linked social media accounts.

Spain formally requested Frontex assistance and additional EU funding to process the remaining migrants and pledged 309 million euros in aid for Ceuta, while political controversy grew over whether Morocco bore responsibility for the crossing: a leaked Spanish national police report said Moroccan security forces showed 'total permissiveness' during the influx, and a declassified military intelligence document said Moroccan authorities acted in a 'negligent and passive manner' without actively encouraging it. Morocco's Foreign Ministry firmly denied any involvement on September 10, accusing Spain's opposition of using it as a political scapegoat ahead of Spain's 2027 elections and noting its close security and migration cooperation with Madrid since Sanchez backed Morocco's Western Sahara autonomy plan in 2022; Morocco does not recognize Spanish sovereignty over Ceuta or the nearby enclave of Melilla, both longstanding territorial disputes between the two countries.