Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez this week criticized the “selfish” response of several EU member states to the influx of migrants from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, as the death toll rose to 67.
Spanish authorities said most of the 50,000 to 60,000 people who attempted to cross had returned to Morocco by Friday night.
Ceuta authorities said many of those who lost their lives drowned Thursday as crowds poured across the border by sea and land and overwhelmed border guards.
In a letter widely cited by European media, Sanchez denounced “selfish, polarized and unlawful reactions” from other EU member states after Italy temporarily imposed some border controls on travelers from Spain and French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez ordered additional checks along the two countries’ common border. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also called for Spain’s membership in the Schengen Agreement to be suspended.
“Such attitudes” were “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance and political interest,” Sanchez said in the letter. “In the current international situation, the European Union cannot tolerate this kind of selfish, polarized and unlawful reaction,” he added.
Late Saturday, Ireland, which holds the bloc’s rotating presidency, announced an emergency meeting of ministers to discuss border crossings. Ireland’s Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Immigration Jim O’Callaghan wrote on X that he is “in close contact with all EU member states” and “continues to monitor the situation.”
Spanish authorities said they would try to expel illegal immigrants as quickly as possible. The mass entry follows a recent ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court that authorities cannot summarily expel migrants arriving by sea without due process. But experts say the legal decision was very narrow, and some argue it was likely misinterpreted by migrants and human traffickers.
By Friday, many people appeared to have left of their own accord. Hundreds of people have returned to Morocco through border crossings and holes in fences, with some saying they could not find food or shelter in Ceuta, Reuters reported.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that Spanish authorities had begun installing floating barriers near the Tarajal breakwater, a key entrance to Ceuta, to “comply” with a July Supreme Court ruling.
Third-country nationals residing in Ceuta are not able to move freely to mainland Spain or other parts of the Schengen area, and will require ID and visa verification for further travel.
Mr Sánchez previously said the large-scale railway crossing constituted a “violation of Spain’s territorial integrity” and blamed the influx on misinformation spread by traffickers in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.
Reuters spoke to Moroccan Ayub El Abyad, 16, who said he decided to make the 12-hour journey to Ceuta after seeing Instagram videos of him, his cousin, and other migrants crossing.
“Migration is about improving our lives. We trusted God and agreed to try the idea of crossing the border,” El Abyad told the news agency from the Moroccan side of the border.
The video went viral as reports and misinformation about the Spanish Supreme Court’s ruling spread on social media, giving many young Moroccans the opportunity to cross the border.
Widespread economic discontent is also a factor. One in four Moroccans aged 15 to 24 is not in education, employment or training, according to official statistics cited by Reuters. The sea is calmer at this time of year, making swimming more possible.
Morocco does not recognize Spain’s sovereignty over Ceuta or Melilla, describing the centuries-old Spanish enclaves as “occupied,” and some analysts wonder if Moroccan authorities have deliberately done little to prevent the crossing.
The arrival of tens of thousands of people in Ceuta overwhelmed the small Spanish enclave of just 84,000 people and sparked a storm of criticism at home and abroad.
The Italian government has announced that it will temporarily reopen some border controls for arrivals from Spain by air and sea for 30 days.
Generally, all travelers flying or sailing between Spain and Italy are not subject to regular border checks. However, Italian public broadcaster RAI reported that “targeted testing” of some arrivals would begin on August 1 and last for a month. RAI cited an Interior Ministry source as saying the regulation only applies to non-EU nationals arriving in Italy from Spain and will check their entry status.
According to the RAI, no additional requirements will therefore be imposed on Spaniards and other EU nationals traveling to Italy, and for those traveling from Italy to Spain.
Spain’s European territory is part of the Schengen Area, but Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish enclave in North Africa, face additional border controls for goods and travelers to and from mainland Spain or Europe.
Immigration is one of the most divisive issues in Europe. Far-right parties opposed to immigration are on the rise, and governments across much of the continent are adopting tougher policies.
The pro-immigration policies of Sanchez’s socialist government have made it an outlier, and Thursday’s events will likely put pressure on the prime minister.
The US State Department criticized Spain’s immigration policies, saying the incident was a direct result of the Spanish government’s “deliberate efforts to enable and facilitate large-scale illegal immigration into Europe.”
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump warned that the immigration surge was an example of what would happen if Republicans were not elected in November, saying it should be a “talking point in the midterm elections.”
The leader of Spain’s far-right opposition party Vox called the prime minister a “traitor” in a social media post on Thursday.
“He is behaving like an enemy of the Spanish people,” Santiago Abascal wrote. “The national emergency can only be resolved by removing him.”
This is not the first time something like this has happened in Ceuta, with more than 8,000 migrants pouring into Ceuta in just two days in May 2021, but the scale of this influx appears to be unprecedented.
“Honestly, I don’t even know why I came. Now I’m planning to go home,” a young Moroccan man from Tangier told Reuters. “We brought money, but we haven’t eaten anything since lunch yesterday…What we’re doing isn’t good or fun.”
CNN has contacted Spain’s Interior Ministry for comment.
