49,000 migrants enter Spain's Ceuta enclave in 24 hours; 43 bodies recovered from the sea
At least 49,000 migrants crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco in 24 hours, and 43 bodies were recovered from the sea, as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the influx an attack on Spain's territorial sovereignty.
At least 49,000 migrants crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco in 24 hours, according to ministerial estimates cited by Spanish media. The figure, which has not been officially confirmed by the Interior Ministry, represents more than half of Ceuta's 85,000 inhabitants. Among those who entered, at least 7,000 are minors now under the protection of the autonomous city's authorities.
What happened in Ceuta is an attack and a violation of Spain's territorial sovereignty.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who travelled to Ceuta with Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, blamed human trafficking networks for the mass arrival. He said the crisis was provoked by a deliberate misreading of a Supreme Court ruling that prohibits the immediate return of migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to swim into the enclave. That interpretation, Sánchez said, "spread like gunpowder through the networks and produced an avalanche of the characteristics we are experiencing." The government is accelerating expulsion procedures for those who arrived in recent days.
The Civil Guard reported that 43 bodies had been recovered from the waters off Ceuta, raising the provisional death toll for the year to 73. The latest victims were among those attempting to swim to the Spanish territory. Ceuta's president, Juan Jesús Vivas, asked the central government to declare a national security emergency.
EU officials stressed that no migrant flows had reached the European continent. Commissioner for Home Affairs Magnus Brunner wrote that Schengen controls on departures from Ceuta and Melilla remain fully operational, and welcomed Spain-Morocco cooperation for rapid returns. Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica called strong EU-Morocco cooperation essential to combat smuggling networks. EU sources said many migrants were returning voluntarily to Morocco and that the situation was evolving.
