Spanish locals clash with migrants after 60,000 cross as 57 die in border chaos
Dramatic video footage has emerged from Ceuta as an estimated 60,000 migrants from Morocco flooded the Spanish enclave by land and sea, sparking clashes with locals
Locals appeared angry as they confronted migrants who had broke passed the border from Morocco (Image: X)
Footage is starting to surface from the scene of the migrant influx in the small Spanish city of Ceuta, located on the North African coast.
Ceuta’s Mayor-President Juan Jesús Vivas estimates that around 60,000 migrants from Morocco have crossed the border by land and sea into the Spanish enclave in North Africa within the last two days.
Tragically, at least 57 of them have lost their lives so far, as reported by several news agencies, many due to drowning, while others were killed in a stampede at the Tarajal beach breakwater fence, an urban beach near a Spanish-Moroccan border checkpoint.
Spain deployed the army to help with the crisis (Image: Mario Mor ³N/JNA via ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)
Rachid Sbihi, head of the Spanish Civil Guard in Ceuta, has painted a picture of utter chaos. “The situation is absolute chaos. It’s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing,” he said.
Sbihi added that the border has “totally collapsed” and expressing fears about a “serious humanitarian crisis.”
One video shared on X provides a ground-level view of the ongoing situation. The footage seems to show agitated locals shouting from the rooftop of a building at migrants as they cross the border from the sea onto land, reports the Express US.
Many Moroccan migrants chose to enter Spanish territory by swimming around a border barrier.
Sbihi reported that thousands of migrants are sleeping on pavements and aimlessly roaming the streets. Some of these, according to the local workers’ association leader, are unaccompanied minors.
The circumstances leading to this situation remain uncertain. However, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez confirmed on Friday during his visit to Ceuta that federal resources were being mobilised to tackle the crisis.
Sánchez’s strategy to manage the situation involves deploying units to return the migrants from Ceuta back to Morocco. By Friday afternoon, approximately 25,000 migrants had already started their journey back, as per the Spanish Ministry of Interior.
Several migrants were being seen trying to swim across(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
On Friday, the prime minister suggested that the current situation could be a result of mob violence in Morocco.
“What has emerged from our talks with Moroccan authorities is that trafficking mafias took a self-serving interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling,” he said, alleging that this interpretation of events has “spread like wildfire in recent hours.”
Western leaders have already started condemning the surge of migrants. European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen stated on Friday that the situation was “unacceptable.
“We cannot allow anyone to come to our [European] Union without abiding by our rules,” she posted online. “Dangerous crossings must stop immediately. Smuggling networks must be dismantled. And [migrant] returns must be swift, as our rules allow.”
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