One Dead as Hundreds of Migrants Cross into Spanish Enclave Ceuta from Morocco

Hundreds of migrants crossed irregularly from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Thursday, adding to the more than 1,500 who have arrived in recent days, according to local authorities who reported at least one death among the arrivals.

Video footage captured by an Agence France-Presse journalist showed dozens of people, mostly young men, reaching the enclave's shores, some swimming, from neighboring Morocco. Some migrants entered through a border post in the southern part of Ceuta, a Spanish territory spanning just 18.5 square kilometers. Upon arrival, some shouted, "Goodbye Morocco, good morning Spain."

This mass arrival marks the largest since 2021, when over 10,000 people crossed the border into Ceuta within two days. On the Moroccan side, journalists observed dozens of people, including minors, gathered at the border between the Moroccan city of Fnideq and Ceuta. They converged after rumors spread that the border would open at dawn on Thursday.

Ceuta's regional president, Juan Vivas, described the situation as "urgent" due to overcrowded and saturated reception centers. He noted that the daily arrival rate averaged around 200 people. "Today, the situation is even worse: new arrivals, lack of resources, and a life lost at sea," he wrote on the X platform. A Ceuta resident, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed heartbreak, saying, "My heart breaks seeing so many people suffering and who knows how many drowned on the way."

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that the government had mobilized "all necessary resources" to address the situation. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska is scheduled to visit Ceuta on Friday to meet with local authorities and praised Morocco's "exemplary cooperation." Both countries will implement "measures for the transfer" back to Morocco "as soon as possible, of all persons who entered Ceuta illegally." Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo denounced the "desperate situation" as a "national security crisis."

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