The European Union has called an emergency meeting after about 60,000 migrants entered Spain’s North African territory of Ceuta over a few days.
Spain’s coastguard is patrolling the waters near Ceuta with the authorities on Sunday saying most of the migrants who crossed over have already been returned to neighbouring Morocco.
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At least 72 people died while trying to reach the enclave in the territory’s largest ever mass migration.
Here’s what we know:
What happened in Ceuta?
Ceuta’s population is just 84,000, but from Wednesday to Friday, an estimated 60,000 migrants entered the territory, Ceuta’s top official Juan Jesus Vivas said. Spain’s Ministry of Interior put the figure at 50,000.
Many people swam from Morocco using wetsuits and inflatables and got around the border fence by swimming through or pushing through the wire. Local authorities said reception centres were overwhelmed, and they called for an emergency response.
“I crossed through the sand at the beginning of Castillejos, then climbed over a wall belonging to the Moroccan police. Then I entered across the border by swimming. Well, I swam about 200 metres [220 yards] in the sea, and that’s all,” a Moroccan migrant told the Reuters news agency.
By Saturday, however, “almost all” had left and the situation in the territory had practically returned to normal, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said.
The scale of the influx was far bigger than the last such event in May 2021. Vivas said at the time that about 12,000 people crossed the border from Morocco into Ceuta over two days.
Ceuta was colonised by Spain in 1580 and remains under its control. It is one of only two remaining European-held territories on the African mainland, along with Melilla.
The enclave, a main entry point into Spain and the EU for asylum seekers and immigrants, is surrounded by high border fences, surveillance systems and a permanent deployment of Spain’s Civil Guard and National Police.
Why did the EU call an emergency meeting?
Ireland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said it had called an emergency video conference meeting of the bloc’s interior ministers to discuss the crisis on Tuesday.
The meeting was called after 22 of the EU’s 27 member states issued a joint letter calling for “coordinated action and the strengthening of external borders”.
“We cannot allow uncontrolled mass crossings, the instrumentalisation of migration or other hybrid threats to create the perception that illegal entry into the European Union is possible. And, that a migrant’s illegal entry can turn into legal stay,” they said.
Meanwhile, Italy suspended its Schengen open-border policy with Spain. Madrid condemned the move, and its practical effect remains unclear, given the two countries do not share a border.
France and Britain expressed “solidarity” with Spain, but France also announced a five-fold increase in the number of police at its border with Spain. Portugal also said it would beef up controls at its southern land and maritime borders.
A leading conservative European politician called for the European border agency to have more powers.
“I want us to give Frontex, our European external border agency, meaning our border protection in Europe, real enforcement powers,” Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party, said on Saturday.
“If a left-wing government in Spain is not willing to secure the external border, then Frontex must also be given command authority,” Weber said. “Then Europe must also go to this border and restore order.”
Spain’s government is led by the Socialist Workers’ Party.
What could have triggered the migration surge?
It was not clear why this happened now.
One possible reason for the timing could be a Spanish Supreme Court ruling on July 8 that said migrants intercepted at sea cannot be summarily returned. The ruling does not apply to those who enter Spain by land.
“Without a doubt, the July 8 ruling … has played a role,” said Ignacio Cembrero, a Spanish journalist who specialises in migration in North Africa. “But that doesn’t explain the level of mobilisation.”
Other experts have questioned this theory, saying few migrants would have been aware of the court ruling. They argued that the Spanish government’s relatively open migration policy could have played a part.
Grande-Marlaska blamed people-smuggling networks for exploiting vulnerable migrants and spreading misleading interpretations of the Supreme Court ruling.
The interior minister told reporters in Ceuta that Spain had largely restored order within 24 hours but warned that the crisis was not yet formally over and reinforced police and military deployments would remain as long as needed although overnight crossings had fallen to about zero.
“Morocco isn’t any threat to Ceuta or the rest of Spain. It’s a fully reliable partner,” he said, adding that there had been no intelligence indicating a mass entry was imminent.
Many of the migrants interviewed said they just wanted the opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their families.
“There has been a concerted action by countries which are basically enemies to Europe to try to undermine European unity in one of the areas where Europe’s unity is one of the weakest, migration, and where it’s the easiest to exploit European disunity,” Karel Lannoo, CEO of the Centre for European Policy Studies, told Al Jazeera.
“We want to reindustrialise, we want to become stronger in manufacturing, but at the same time we don’t know how to get the workers. Overall, Europe needs more migrants, even for skilled labour. The problem is that many European countries have very tight migration control.”
Migrants wave from rocks on the coast near a Ceuta border post on August 2, 2026, with a Civil Guard patrol boat visible in the background [AFP]Some observers said Morocco may have orchestrated this incident under the encouragement of the United States and Israel.
Both US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have criticised Spain’s recent actions and rhetoric, particularly in relation to Palestine and the US-Israel war on Iran.
While Spain refused to allow a US-flagged cargo ship carrying weapons for Israel to dock at Algeciras in 2024, Moroccan authorities welcomed the warship.
What is Morocco doing?
Some also believe Morocco may have facilitated the migration crisis as a tool of diplomatic pressure.
Ever since it gained its independence in 1956, Morocco has claimed sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla. Spain has flatly rejected any talks to change the status quo.
Cembrero said it appeared Moroccan security forces had been “sitting on their hands” since Wednesday. He argued that Morocco had “seen an opportunity” to force Spain to negotiate.
“To reach the breakwater that marks the border between Ceuta and Morocco, there are cordons of police and auxiliary forces, and it’s obvious they’ve been allowed through,” he said.
Carlos Echeverria, director of the Ceuta and Melilla Observatory, said the use of the controversial term “invasion” could be justified, given that “thousands of people are illegally crossing an international border, putting pressure on a neighbouring country”.
On Saturday, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights called for an independent inquiry to “shed full light” on the causes of the influx.
Why did Trump raise the issue?
Trump has used this as a campaign opportunity. He tried to link the Ceuta situation to his administration’s and Republican Party’s hardline migration policies.
“I saw Spain yesterday, and I watched the catastrophe that took place. It looks like an invasion of a country by hundreds of thousands of people,” he said on Friday.
Trump sought to tie the issue to midterm elections in November, in which Republicans look hard-pressed to retain their narrow majority in Congress. “That same thing’s going to happen to us if the Republicans don’t get elected, except worse, much bigger,” Trump told his cabinet at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.
The US Department of State on Saturday updated its travel advisory for Spain, raising the threat for Ceuta to Level 3 and urging Americans to reconsider travel due to unrest.
The department said the “massive and uncontrolled arrival of migrants from Morocco to Ceuta may lead to unpredictable and dangerous security situations”.
Meanwhile, Esteban Beltran, director of Amnesty International Spain, urged Spanish and Moroccan authorities to prioritise human rights in their response to the situation.
“The principle of non-refoulement is absolute, and collective expulsions are prohibited in all cases,” he said.
