Spain deploys army in Ceuta as 60,000 migrants enter enclave in 24 hours, leaving at least 34 dead

A mass crossing of migrants from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta has left at least 34 people dead and pushed local reception capacity to breaking point. Spanish authorities estimate that around 60,000 people entered the city of 84,000 inhabitants in under 24 hours, making it the largest single movement recorded at a European land border. Many swam around the breakwater at El Tarajal beach; others walked across the frontier after Moroccan gendarmes appeared to vacate their posts.

How the flow began

The immediate trigger was a ruling by Spain's Tribunal Supremo that "hot returns" cannot be automatically applied to people intercepted at sea. Word spread rapidly on social media that anyone arriving by water would not face immediate expulsion. Within hours, thousands from Fez, Tangier, Tétouan and beyond were heading toward Ceuta. "Ci hanno detto che il confine era aperto, che la Spagna ci aspettava," said Hassan Nahon, who travelled from Tangier. "Mentivano." He was walking back toward Morocco, shoes in hand, less than a day later.

Abbiamo fame, sete, qua nessuno ci vuole. Non sappiamo dove dormire, preferisco tornare indietro prima di morire di fame.

A city overwhelmed

By Friday, every beach, roundabout and patch of green in Ceuta was covered with exhausted people. At least 57 corpses had been recovered from the water, according to reporters on the ground, while ANSA put the toll at 34. The discrepancy reflects the speed of events and the difficulty of counting. Madrid dispatched National Police reinforcements and anti-riot units to back up the Guardia Civil already deployed at the Tarajal seawall, where soldiers blocked further attempts to swim in. Shops and restaurants stayed shut for fear of looting. A fight broke out in the street, a flash of tension in a city running out of space and patience.

Sánchez visits, numbers shift

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez travelled to Ceuta on Friday, facing protests as he arrived. He announced that 37,000 of the roughly 60,000 entrants had already been returned to Morocco. The enclave's government said the real intake may be even higher. Many returnees were young men who realised that reaching Ceuta does not equal reaching Europe: a ferry ticket to mainland Andalusia requires a visa they do not possess, effectively trapping them in the enclave.

The geopolitical chessboard

The sudden disappearance of Moroccan police from the border revived suspicions that Rabat weaponised migration to punish Madrid. A similar crisis unfolded in May 2021, when 8,000 people crossed in 48 hours after Spain secretly treated Brahim Ghali, the Polisario Front leader, for Covid. This time the grievances include Spain's recent trade deals with Algeria, Morocco's rival, and Sánchez's stances on Palestine and Iran, positions that clash with a Rabat-Trump-Netanyahu axis.

Compounding the picture: a $40 million US funding package approved in April by the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee, splitting the sum between National Security Investment Programs and the Foreign Military Financing Program. The same committee document backed Morocco's territorial claims to Ceuta and Melilla. In March, an article from the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based conservative think tank, had described Spanish control of the enclaves as "illegittimo" and envisioned just this scenario: an "onda verde" of unarmed civilians entering Ceuta. Donald Trump cast himself as a safeguard against irregular migration while blaming Madrid, which he has sidelined since Spain refused basing rights for the Iran campaign.

The longer border

Ceuta and Melilla remain Europe's only direct land borders with Africa, a colonial legacy guarded by double six-metre fences. The pattern of mass incursions is not new: it happened under a centre-right government in 2014 during the El Tarajal tragedy and again repeatedly whenever Madrid-Rabat tensions spike. Italian Interior Ministry officials responded with calls to close Schengen borders, though Italy shares none with Spain. Meanwhile, Russia-linked media flooded the information space with 1,500 articles on the crisis, second only to Spanish outlets in volume.

Ceuta's beaches on Friday were still littered with mismatched flip-flops, plastic bottles and inner tubes bought for a few dirhams. The border that vanished for a day was back in place, as tightly sealed as before.