The Spanish government announced it will deploy military units to reinforce police in the North African enclave of Reuters after thousands of migrants broke through border fences and swam from foxnews.com. The sudden surge overwhelmed the Guardia Civil police force, leaving local authorities scrambling to respond to what officials described as total chaos.
Ceuta Border Collapses As Thousands of Migrants Cross From Morocco
State television TVE reported that between 2,000 and 3,000 people crossed the border Reuters, while Ceuta regional estimates noted that between 1,500 and 2,000 people had arrived in the days leading up to the breach. Rachid Sbihi, head of the association representing Spain’s Guardia Civil in DW.com, stated that the border had totally collapsed. Footage showed crowds of migrants scaling the border fence, walking around breakwaters, and emerging from the sea onto rocky shores, with some shouting Viva España!
as they entered the territory.
Emergency Requests And Military Deployment
Following a unanimous agreement by the city’s board of spokespeople, Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas formally requested that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declare a national emergency on grounds of national security to help respond. Vivas asked for additional police and military deployment to guarantee the inviolability of the frontier and citizen safety.
However, Spain’s Ministry of the Interior stated that a national emergency mechanism could not be activated as requested by the president of the Government of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas. Instead, the Interior Ministry pledged that three platoons of 20 soldiers each, a diving unit, and a military vessel would be deployed by Friday. Special police intervention units were also reinforced to a total of 200 personnel, and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska made plans to visit DW.com on Friday.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote in a post on X that his administration was mobilizing all necessary resources, working with Moroccan and international authorities, and preparing the necessary measures to restore normalcy as soon as possible,
according to foxnews.com.
Local Impact And Humanitarian Concerns
The sudden influx brought severe strain to the enclave of roughly 85,000 residents. Local authorities reported that reception centers were overwhelmed, leaving hundreds of people sleeping on the streets following the crossings. Local shop owners shuttered their businesses out of fear of disturbances, with central Ceuta clothing store operator Enrique Serrano telling Reuters that business owners were organizing themselves to protect their property and families.
The offshore rush also brought tragic outcomes. A spokeswoman for the Spanish government’s delegation in Ceuta, along with Sbihi and regional activists, reported that at least nine people had died attempting to reach the enclave by sea amid the offshore rush.
Bilateral Response And Context
Spain’s Interior Ministry noted that the Moroccan government was closely cooperating to handle the situation, with Moroccan police stopping numerous people attempting to cross the border. Both countries agreed to work together for the return as soon as possible of all individuals who entered Ceuta illegally.
The events recall previous border crises, including a May 2021 surge when more than 8,000 migrants entered Ceuta in two days. While the exact trigger for the latest surge remained unclear, observers noted recent legal context, including a Spanish Supreme Court ruling earlier in July stating that migrants arriving by sea cannot be summarily returned in the same way as those arriving at land border crossings under special border-rejection regimes.
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