60,000 migrants cross into Spain's Ceuta from Morocco; at least 34 dead

Roughly 60,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into Spain's North African exclave of Ceuta over 24 hours, equivalent to 70 percent of the city's regular population, Ceuta's regional president said Friday, as authorities reported at least 34 deaths in the surge.

"The situation that Ceuta is going through is absolutely unsustainable," Ceuta's regional president, Juan Jesús Vivas, said Friday.

The border crisis erupted Thursday and continued Friday, with security forces clashing with migrants on the Moroccan side. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, speaking in Ceuta on Friday, condemned the breach as "a violation of Spain's territorial integrity" and blamed human smugglers, saying they "deceive so many young people, and ultimately lead many of them to their deaths — whether in the ocean or, as in this case, at Spain's border in the autonomous city of Ceuta."

Live footage from the border showed hundreds of migrants gathered on a hill overlooking Ceuta being dispersed with tear gas by Moroccan forces, while others swam toward Spanish territory. At the same time, large groups walked back toward Morocco.

Rachid Sbihi, who heads a local workers association representing Civil Guard officers, called the situation a "serious humanitarian crisis," saying thousands of migrants, including unaccompanied children, were sleeping in parks and on sidewalks. "People are still entering. The reinforcements, including Spanish military troops, that have arrived are only helping the injured and other humanitarian efforts," he said. "It's chaotic."

Sbihi said many of the dead drowned, while others were killed in a stampede to cross the breakwater fence at Tarajal beach, near a border checkpoint with Morocco. By Friday morning, waters near the border fence were littered with buoys, shoes and other belongings left behind.

Ahmed Karim, a 33-year-old Moroccan who crossed into Ceuta, said he did so because of the lack of jobs in his country. "Many people want to go to Europe, America, but they don't have the opportunity," he said.

Moroccan police deployed additional personnel, used water cannons and fired warning shots to prevent crossings, according to rights groups in Morocco.Achraf Maimouni, a human rights activist in Fnideq, the Moroccan city bordering Ceuta, said migrants got through the waterway despite the police presence even as the land border remained closed. He said those arrested were taken farther into Morocco, away from Ceuta, "but people are still coming."

Morocco's ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, said she hoped those who crossed would return, describing the situation as difficult and one that unfolded against Morocco's wishes. "We have always prioritised legal, orderly and safe migration for all," she said, without commenting on what prompted the crossings.

Authorities in Ceuta and Madrid linked the surge to a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling that migrants arriving by sea cannot be summarily deported, unlike those who cross by land or climb the border fence. Sánchez said smugglers had misinterpreted the ruling but acknowledged it may have contributed to the chaos. "It appears that this interpretation of the Supreme Court's ruling spread like wildfire over the past few hours through the networks of human trafficking organisations, triggering the kind of mass surge we witnessed yesterday," he said.

Some activists in Morocco doubted the ruling was behind the surge, arguing most migrants would not have known about the legal decision.

To reach Ceuta, migrants often swim about 3 miles (5 km) from the Moroccan town of Fnideq, or attempt a shorter crossing from nearby Belyounech.

Sánchez, a Socialist, has resisted the anti-migration trend seen elsewhere in Europe and the U.S., with Spain earlier this year granting residency and work permits to hundreds of thousands of migrants already in the country without documentation, though those who entered irregularly after January 1, 2026, were excluded.

Critics have seized on the Ceuta crisis to attack that policy. Conservative politician Isabel Díaz Ayuso wrote on X that Sánchez was allowing Spain to be "invaded" through Ceuta. Sánchez on Friday sought to separate the migrant legalisation program from the events in Ceuta.

The crisis also drew reaction from other European governments. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni threatened to suspend Italy's Schengen open-border agreement with Spain "to defend our borders and ensure the safety of our citizens," despite Italy not sharing a border with Spain. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said France would tighten border checks with Spain and had activated the Rapid Intervention Border Force.

The Spanish government, in a statement issued late Thursday, said the crisis stemmed from an interpretation of the Supreme Court's decision "according to which people who swim illegally across the border cannot be returned," adding that smugglers had exploited that interpretation. It also summoned Italy's ambassador in Madrid.

Migrants also attempted to cross into Melilla, Spain's other North African exclave. Local media and rights groups reported widespread unrest in Bni Nsar, the Moroccan town bordering Melilla, where migrants clashed with police, threw rocks and set police vehicles ablaze, with injuries among security forces and dozens arrested. Omar Naji of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights said the Melilla crossing attempts appeared linked to the situation in Ceuta.

Vivas had warned earlier in the week that migrant reception centres were overwhelmed as sea arrivals steadily increased before the chaos began Thursday. Spain's Interior Ministry did not confirm the number of arrivals, saying its next migration report would be published Monday.

Spanish media, citing unnamed government and security sources, estimated 30,000 to 49,000 migrants had crossed in 24 hours; a Civil Guard member who spoke on condition of anonymity put the figure at about 49,000, more than half of Ceuta's population of nearly 84,000. Sbihi said exact numbers were difficult to determine but that tens of thousands had made it through.

Ceuta has been under Spanish control since 1580, with a mixed population of Christian and Muslim, Spanish and Moroccan residents living together.

AP