{"id":5861,"date":"2026-08-01T07:09:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5861"},"modified":"2026-08-01T07:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:09:13","slug":"spain-says-migrants-are-returning-back-to-morocco-after-flood-of-illegal-immigrants-rushed-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5861","title":{"rendered":"Spain says migrants are returning back to Morocco after flood of illegal immigrants rushed border"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Spain said on Friday it had reversed a huge rush of migrants into a Spanish enclave in North Africa, with most of the more than 50,000 people who had crossed the border by land and sea \u200balready heading back voluntarily.<\/p>\n

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The Spanish government\u2019s representative in Ceuta said 57 bodies had been recovered on the Spanish side of the border and that there could be additional casualties on the Moroccan side. \u200cIt said some drowned and some were crushed while trying to climb the breakwater that holds the border fence.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s Interior Ministry said around 50,000 people had crossed the border since Thursday morning, and estimated that 48,300 had returned by 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Friday. Juan Jesus Vivas, head of Ceuta\u2019s local government, said as many as 60,000 people had pushed across over the past couple of days.<\/p>\n

Moroccan forces beat back crowds with batons and tear gas at the gates to Ceuta, trying to prevent more from entering the tiny Spanish territory that juts on \u200ba spit of sandy land into the Mediterranean from Morocco.<\/p>\n

The rush on the border caused division in Europe, where leaders of fellow EU states called for Spain to ensure that the incident was contained.<\/p>\n

Italy said it \u200bwas suspending the European Union\u2019s border-free Schengen arrangements with Spain, a measure set to affect people travelling by plane or boat between the two countries. Madrid said the move violated \u2060EU treaties.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m Going Back\u2019<\/h2>\n

Reuters at the enclave\u2019s border saw Moroccan police in riot gear using tear gas to disperse some of the people amassed near the fences. Water cannon trucks were deployed and the charred remains of a bus and \u200bseven cars could be seen from clashes with the crowds.<\/p>\n

On the other side, Spanish military vehicles lined up along sections of the border as dozens of migrants watched from a hilltop in Morocco, unable to cross.<\/p>\n

Several hundred people could be \u200bseen returning to Morocco through border posts and holes in the fence, with some saying they could not find food or shelter in Ceuta.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t even know why I came, and now I\u2019m going back,\u201d a young Moroccan man, who said he was from Tangier, told Reuters. \u201cI haven\u2019t eaten since lunch yesterday, even though I brought some money with me \u2026 What we\u2019re doing is neither good nor enjoyable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ayman, a 20-year-old hairdresser from the port city of Larache who only gave one name, told Reuters he had crossed on Wednesday after a \u200bfive-hour swim.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no food inside Ceuta and we were kicked out badly by the (Spanish) army,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Unprecedented Scale of Crossings<\/h2>\n

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez travelled to Ceuta on Friday, where he was greeted with insults from protesters. He called \u200bthe mass crossing \u201ca violation of Spain\u2019s territorial sovereignty\u201d and said authorities were speeding up the repatriation of those who had entered illegally, with full cooperation from Morocco.<\/p>\n

Ceuta and Melilla, Spanish autonomous cities in northern Morocco, have the European Union\u2019s only land borders with Africa. \u200cBoth periodically experience \u2060surges in attempted crossings by migrants seeking to reach Europe, but the scale of Thursday\u2019s rush appeared unprecedented.<\/p>\n

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Right-wing parties around the continent blamed the incident on Spain\u2019s comparatively lax migration policies, including an amnesty granted to hundreds of thousands of unauthorised migrants this year.<\/p>\n

Spain summoned the Italian ambassador to protest earlier comments by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who claimed Spain\u2019s amnesty policy had \u201cencouraged human trafficking\u201d.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump, a long-time critic of Spain\u2019s Socialist-led government, told a cabinet meeting the Ceuta crossings \u201clook like an invasion\u201d, adding: \u201cThat same thing\u2019s going to happen to us if the Republicans don\u2019t get elected, except worse,\u201d referring to upcoming midterm elections.<\/p>\n

The State Department on X pointed the blame squarely at the Spanish government, saying the incident was a \u200bdirect result of its migration policies. \u201cWe are considering actions to \u200bdefend Americans at home and abroad from this \u2060threat and stand ready to assist other European allies considering similar option,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis unacceptable incident is the direct result of the Spanish Government\u2019s deliberate efforts to enable and facilitate mass illegal migration into Europe.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said police presence on the Spanish border would be quintupled by Saturday, while reinforcing aerial surveillance and patrols on trains.<\/p>\n

EU countries \u200bare normally barred from conducting checks at internal frontiers of the bloc\u2019s Schengen zone, though checks can be reimposed temporarily under exceptional circumstances.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

In a post on X, Spain\u2019s \u200bGuardia Civil police association AUGC said \u2060there had been too few police in place to monitor the fence during the surge on Thursday, making them unable to stop the rush.<\/p>\n

Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres said that among factors contributing to the surge may have been a ruling by Spain\u2019s Supreme Court earlier this month that migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to reach Ceuta or Melilla cannot be summarily rejected at the border. Experts say that still does not prevent their expulsion.<\/p>\n

On the Moroccan side of the border, thousands of migrants \u2060streamed into the \u200btown of Fnideq overnight despite a reinforced deployment of security that foiled most attempts to cross. Some began leaving again later on Friday.<\/p>\n

Although the \u200bcrossing appeared blocked, groups moved along the coast seeking routes around the fence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was late,\u201d said Brahim, 32, who gave only one name. He said he had arrived from Tangier hoping to cross through the gate but found it effectively shut.<\/p>\n

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At least 57 migrants died during a border rush of 50,000 people into Spain’s Ceuta enclave, though most have already returned to Morocco.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSpain says migrants are returning back to Morocco after flood of illegal immigrants rushed border - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5861\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spain says migrants are returning back to Morocco after flood of illegal immigrants rushed border - 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