Ceuta: Chaos at Spain border as vehicles and after thousands of migrants rush from Morocco

At least 18 people have drowned while attempting to cross into Ceuta from Morocco as tens of thousands more poured into the Spanish enclave.

Soldiers and police have been deployed to the North African territory after local authorities pleaded for reinforcements from the Spanish government to manage the border crisis that boiled over late last night.

Some 49,000 migrants are estimated to have crossed into the enclave over the past 24 hours, Spain’s Interior ⁠Ministry said this morning.

Local authorities urged the government to declare a national emergency as overwhelmed border guards struggled to deal with the influx.

“It was very tough. The police tried to stop us. But our will and determination allowed us to come here,” Jadid Zacaria, his hair and shirt still wet from the ocean, said in an interview in Ceuta on Thursday afternoon.

Some of the shouted, “Long live Spain” as they entered the territory.

Footage circulating on social media shows hundreds of people desperately climbing the rocky shores of Ceuta as they exited the water.

Along with Melilla, another Spanish autonomous ‌city in northern Morocco, Ceuta represents ​the European Union’s ‌only land border ⁠with Africa. Both cities ⁠periodically experience surges in attempted crossings ‌by people ​seeking to ‌reach Europe.

Where is Ceuta?

Although the border crossing appeared blocked, groups of migrants moved along the coast seeking ⁠routes around the fence and some prepared to swim. “I was late,” said Brahim, 32, who gave ​only one ⁠name. He said he had arrived from ‌Tangier hoping to cross through the gate but found it effectively shut.

Among those hoping to cross into the enclave of 85,000 were women and children as well from Morocco and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Moroccan authorities deployed ‌water cannon trucks and reinforced security at the crossing-gates, repeatedly pushing back ‌migrants attempting to approach.

Nearby stood the charred remains of a bus and seven vehicles, left after clashes that erupted as authorities sought to stop the crowds, according to Reuters witnesses.

Another migrant said he had been caught in a stampede ⁠during an attempted crossing.

“I feared for my life,” said the migrant, who declined to give his name, as he described chaotic scenes of people pushing and stepping on one another along a narrow coastal route.

Traffic clogged roads into Fnideq as would-be migrants, including minors, continued to arrive. Some trudged along the highway into the city late into the night, while others took mountain paths to avoid checkpoints.

Security forces repeatedly turned back people making concerted rushes on the crossing through the night hours, while migrants regrouped on roads, hills and ‌open spaces across the city.

Spain’s Socialist government stands out in Europe for its pro-migrant stance, and ​has recently launched a programme to provide legal status for some 500,000 undocumented migrants, triggering an ‌influx of applications double that number.

Early on ⁠Friday, Fatima Mahli, 23, sat with her two daughters on a patch of grass beside the ⁠road to the crossing.

The resident of Morocco’s northern city of Tetouan said her husband had left before dawn to try to ‌swim to Ceuta.

“I thought I ​could cross by foot through the border. But ‌we are stuck here, unable to go back home,” ​she said.

“I was hoping to cross as a family but my husband woke up early and went first, swimming.”