Over 1,500 migrants swim from Morocco to Ceuta, overwhelming Spanish enclave's reception centers
Spanish authorities say reception centers are 'collapsed and saturated' after more than 1,500 people swam from Morocco in recent days, with hundreds sleeping outside.
Surge of arrivals
More than 1,500 migrants, including adults and minors, reached Ceuta by sea in the last few days, according to the enclave's government leader Juan Jesús Vivas. He told journalists that reception centers were "collapsed and saturated." Hundreds of people were sleeping outside the overfull facility. The Spanish interior ministry did not confirm the figure, referring instead to its bimonthly report due on August 3. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska acknowledged an "extraordinary, exceptional situation" but said authorities were handling it with permanent deployments. The swimmers are mainly Moroccans, with a small number of Algerians who had been living in Morocco while trying to reach Europe.
The reception centers are collapsed and saturated.
We are dealing with it with the means that we already have deployed there permanently.
Rescue operations and beach closures
Spain's Civil Guard, maritime rescue services and the Red Cross used boats to pick up swimmers. The DW report said 117 migrants were rescued from the water. Moroccan authorities also intercepted dozens at sea, and the Moroccan army stopped about 500 people attempting the crossing, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine. On the Spanish side, the beaches of Tarajal and Almadraba were temporarily closed after arriving migrants mixed with bathers, making it difficult for security forces to distinguish them. Spain deployed extra officers and a helicopter along the coast.
Dangers of the crossing
The sea route is perilous. Vivas said 60 bodies had been spotted at sea in the past year. The Frankfurter Allgemeine reported that four drowned people had been recovered during the current surge, and aid organizations counted 27 drownings this year up to Sunday. Many migrants use inflatable rings or car tires to stay afloat, often spending three to four hours in the water before reaching shore or being rescued.
Unclear motives and legal backdrop
It remains unclear what triggered the sudden increase. A Spanish Supreme Court ruling earlier in July established that migrants arriving by sea cannot be immediately pushed back without due process, unlike those crossing by land. However, activists including Omar Naji, president of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights in Eastern Morocco, doubted the ruling was a factor, saying most Moroccans would be unaware of it. Naji noted that the timing, shortly after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez met Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, reminded him of the May 2021 border crisis when 8,000 migrants entered Ceuta in two days amid a diplomatic row with Morocco.
Broader migration context
Despite the spike, migrant arrivals in Ceuta and Melilla this year are lower than the same period last year, as many have shifted to the Canary Islands route. Spain and Morocco have cooperated on migration control since 2022, after relations soured in 2021. Grande-Marlaska praised Moroccan authorities, saying cooperation was "close and based on loyalty." The surge echoes past sudden mass crossings, such as September 2024 when social media encouraged youths to attempt the crossing from Fnideq, leading to hundreds being stopped by Moroccan police.
The relationship with the kingdom is close and based on loyalty.
