In Pictures: How Wave of Migrants Is Crossing Into Ceuta by Sea
Newsweek · C · trust 52/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Photos and video from Ceuta, Spain, on Friday showed soldiers patrolling the border, discarded flotation devices blanketing beaches and hundreds of migrants gathered in streets following an unprecedented surge into the North African enclave .
Juan Jesús Vivas, head of Ceuta's local government, said Friday that an estimated 60,000 people crossed from Morocco beginning Thursday—equivalent to 70 percent of the city's population. Spain's Interior Ministry reported that roughly 25,000 migrants had since turned back.
At least 43 people died by Friday afternoon, according to the Spanish news agency EFE, which cited police sources.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Ceuta on Friday and characterized the breach as a violation of Spain's territorial integrity. He blamed trafficking networks for the crisis, stating that they exploited a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling to convince migrants they could remain in Ceuta while their asylum cases were processed.
Some migrant rights activists in Morocco disputed that narrative, questioning how tens of thousands of migrants could have learned of the ruling.
Spain deployed additional troops and police to Ceuta, while Morocco dispatched extra officers and water-cannon trucks to disperse crowds near the border. Madrid also stated it would process and return individuals who entered unlawfully.
The crisis prompted immediate international fallout. Italy and Finland called for Spain to lose its Schengen area membership, which permits passport-free travel across much of Europe.
"Spain has completely failed to protect the Schengen Area's external border from infiltration," Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen wrote on X on Friday. "This cannot continue. All European countries must support [Italian Prime Minister Giorgia] Meloni's proposal. Countries that do not fulfill their obligation to protect the external border cannot be members of Schengen."
In the United States, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance condemned the situation, calling it "terrible" and "an unfortunate reminder of the consequences of mass migration and the radical left-wing globalist policies that have enabled the Invasion of the West."
Related Story Europe’s Open Borders Policy at Risk After Migrants Enter Spain Enclave Ceuta Crisis In Pictures ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Matthew Robinson and Anthony Murray .
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