Spain has sent troops to bolster security in its North African enclave of Ceuta after 49,000 migrants swam from Morocco into the territory on Thursday.
The tiny African enclave endured a night of chaos with cars torched and migrants forcing their way into buildings after the unprecedented influx yesterday.
Extraordinary footage showed huge numbers of people sprinting up beaches, swimming ashore and dispersing into the streets of the tiny Spanish territory, which borders Morocco, with some shouting ‘Long live Spain‘.
n an escalation of the crisis this morning, Italy‘s government said it was considering ‘extraordinary measures’ including closing the open border Schengen agreement with Spain.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: ‘The images coming from Ceuta are striking and demonstrate, once again, that uncontrolled illegal immigration poses a concrete threat to the security of Europe’s borders,’ she said.
And France said it will tighten its borders with Spain with the interior minister giving ‘instructions to immediately step up controls’ where the two countries meet.
The president of Ceuta, Juan Jesus Vivas, declared a ‘total humanitarian and social emergency’ and called for changes to Spain’s immigration framework, saying legal shortcomings exposed by a recent Supreme Court ruling needed to be addressed.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to reach Ceuta or Melilla cannot be summarily returned under the enclaves’ special border-rejection regime.
The ruling established that migrants who arrive by sea cannot be immediately pushed back across the border without due process, unlike those who cross into Spain by land – by climbing over the border fence, for example.
A vehicle burns at the site of clashes near Fnideq, on the Morocco-Spain border
Italy’s government said it was considering ‘extraordinary measures’ including closing the open border Schengen agreement with Spain
A vehicle burns at the site of clashes near Fnideq, on the Morocco-Spain border, on July 31
Madrid’s interior ministry accused human trafficking networks of exploiting that to ‘encourage the flow of undocumented migrants’.
‘The armed forces will reinforce the Civil Guard in the exercise of its powers and any others that may be necessary to maintain security in the city of Ceuta,’ the ministry said.
The death toll from Thursday alone was 18 but many more are believed to have perished in the run up to the mass influx.
Although the border crossing appeared blocked, groups of migrants moved along the coast seeking routes around the fence and some prepared to swim.
The chaos in Ceuta also spread to Spain’s second North African enclave.
The Beni-Enza border between Morocco and Spain was closed last night following the arrival of hundreds of North Africans into Melilla, 140 miles east of Ceuta by air and 240 miles east by road.
Melilla’s President Juan Jose Imbroda said between 300 and 400 Moroccans were believed to have breached the border.
‘The actions of the Civil Guard, the National Police, and the local police, who are working together, are exemplary. They are acting perfectly and the situation has been contained quite well,’ he said.
He went on to admit the border emergency experienced in Ceuta ‘could occur here as well’.
Spain’s state broadcaster RTVE broadcast images of burned cars on the Moroccan side of the border after reported clashes.
Rachid Sbihi, who leads a local workers association representing Civil Guard officers called the situation a ‘serious humanitarian crisis,’ saying thousands of migrants, including unaccompanied children, were left sleeping in parks and sidewalks, while others roamed the streets aimlessly.
‘People are still entering. The reinforcements that have arrived are only helping the injured and other humanitarian efforts,’ he said. ‘It’s chaotic.’
Among the 18 who died, many drowned, Sbihi said, but some were also killed in a stampede to cross the breakwater fence at Tarajal beach, an urban beach near a border checkpoint with Morocco.
Video footage on Thursday showed throngs of people, mainly Moroccans, walking around the breakwaters onto local roads.
Vehicles burn in Fnideq, Morocco, July 31, as migrants (not pictured) wait for a chance to cross to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta
Migrants gather around a torched vehicle while waiting for a chance to cross to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on the Moroccan side of the border in Fnideq, Morocco, July 31
People stand next to a burned bus as migrants wait for a chance to cross to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta
Security forces prevented the migrants from crossing during the night between Thursday and Friday
Madrid is sending troops to bolster security in its North African enclave of Ceuta after thousands of migrants swam from Morocco into the territory on Thursday
Spanish state television TVE said between 2,000 and 3,000 people crossed into Ceuta, with most of those who succeededed appearing to have done so before midday
Spanish soldiers patrol near the Spanish-Moroccan border in Ceuta, Spain, as migrants try to cross the border by the sea, July 31
The president of Ceuta, Juan Jesus Vivas, declared a ‘total humanitarian and social emergency’ and called for changes to Spain’s immigration framework, saying legal shortcomings exposed by a recent Supreme Court ruling needed to be addressed
Following the scenes on Thursday, officials in Ceuta begged the national government in Madrid to declare a national emergency, which was rebuffed.
Central government officials claimed that migration crises were not a good enough reason to call a national emergency – but promised additional resources after police unions decried the lack of personnel and equipment in Ceuta.
On Thursday evening, Spain’s interior ministry announced that 60 members of the armed forces would be deployed to Ceuta, along with an additional 30 Guardia Civil officers.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his government would provide ‘an immediate response’ to the situation in Ceuta, which echoes the border crisis in 2021 when more than 8,000 people arrived in just two days.
‘We’re mobilising all necessary resources, working with Moroccan and international authorities, and preparing the necessary measures to restore normality as soon as possible,’ he said in a post on X.
‘I just conveyed this to President Vivas. This is the moment to build solutions, with responsibility and cooperation.’
Vivas had asked for more police and for the army to be deployed on the border ‘to guarantee the inviolability of the frontier and citizen safety’.
The chaos had ripple effects in Italy, another key destination for migrants.
Premier Giorgia Meloni threatened to suspend Italy’s open-border Schengen agreement with Spain ‘to defend our borders and ensure the safety of our citizens,’ though Italy doesn’t share a border with Spain.
‘I was late,’ 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.
Among those hoping to cross into the enclave of 85,000 were women and children as well from Morocco and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Moroccan authorities deployed water cannon trucks and reinforced security at the crossing-gates, repeatedly pushing back migrants attempting to approach.
Nearby stood the charred remains of a bus and seven vehicles, left after clashes that erupted as authorities sought to stop the crowds, according to Reuters witnesses.
Another migrant said he had been caught in a stampede during an attempted crossing.
‘I feared for my life,’ said the migrant, who declined to give his name, as he described chaotic scenes of people pushing and stepping on one another along a narrow coastal route.
Traffic clogged roads into Fnideq as would-be migrants, including minors, continued to arrive.
Some trudged along the highway into the city late into the night, while others took mountain paths to avoid checkpoints.
Security forces repeatedly turned back people making concerted rushes on the crossing through the night hours, while migrants regrouped on roads, hills and open spaces across the city.
Spain’s Socialist government stands out in Europe for its pro-migrant stance, and has recently launched a programme to provide legal status for some 500,000 undocumented migrants, triggering an influx of applications double that number.
Upon their arrival, the migrants, largely made up of people from Morocco and Algeria, went into the city of around 84,000
Migrants from Morocco react as they crossed into Ceuta by sea, at the border between the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and Morocco, as seen from Ceuta, Spain, July 30, 2026
Some migrants were detained and transported outside the city, while security operations continued across the area
Early on Friday, Fatima Mahli, 23, sat with her two daughters on a patch of grass beside the road to the crossing.
The resident of Morocco’s northern city of Tetouan said her husband had left before dawn to try to swim to Ceuta.
‘I thought I could cross by foot through the border. But we are stuck here, unable to go back home,’ she said.
‘I was hoping to cross as a family but my husband woke up early and went first, swimming.’
The rush of migrants started on Thursday afternoon, and carried on well into the night, even after Spanish military units were deployed to the enclave from the mainland.
Even after the crossing was closed off following the surge of people, hundreds were seen at the border in the Moroccan town of Fnideq.
Upon their arrival, the migrants, largely made up of people from Morocco and Algeria, went into the city of around 84,000.
In response, enraged Spanish citizens were seen taking to the streets to push them back. Many were seen waving Spanish flags and screaming at them.
As a group of migrants were seen running away, a loud police siren was heard in the background.
Hundreds of migrants have attempted to swim from Morocco to the Spanish city of Ceuta in North Africa, while the number of arrivals exceeded 1,500 in just over a week, according to local news in Cueta, Spain on July 30
Security forces stand guard as people attempt to cross from the northern Moroccan town of Fnideq to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Thursday, July 30, 2026
Migrants gather near a fence while waiting for a chance to cross to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on the Moroccan side of the border in Fnideq, Morocco, July 31
Terrifying footage showed scores of people seemingly breaking into homes across the city late at night.
One clip appeared to show a man on top of a ladder, hitting a first-floor window with an object.
After migrants flooded into the city, many local shops chose to close early.
Enrique Serrano, who runs a women’s clothing store in central Ceuta, told Reuters business owners were organising self-defence because they believed police resources would be insufficient.
‘I’m not opening this afternoon because the situation is extremely tense… The first thing I have to do is protect my business and my family,’ he said, adding that when the fence was breached after midnight, hundreds of migrants rushed through in a matter of minutes.
Even before Thursday’s mass influx, local officials said that around 1,500 migrants managed to get into Ceuta by sea in recent days.
President Vivas said: ‘The reception centres are saturated – there is no more room for anyone in them and according to yesterday’s figures the number of people entering is more than 200 a day.’
He added that facilities for unaccompanied minors were operating at 2,400 per cent of capacity.
As of July 15, well before the latest rush, nearly 3,000 migrants had entered Ceuta by land or sea since the start of the year, according to ministry figures.
Ceuta, which is perched on a historical isthmus, has been a Spanish possession since 1580. Its mixed population of Christians and Muslims, Spanish and Moroccan residents and day workers, lives in relative harmony behind a border fence that many desperate migrants from across Africa attempt to cross for a better life in Europe.
