Tensions are rising in Ceuta where police have clashed with groups of migrants who flooded the Spanish enclave on Thursday.
Video footage from Sunday showed a group of migrants carrying an injured man wrapped in a blanket who they said had been assaulted by police, while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’.
Clashes subsequently ensued, with footage showing Spanish National Police officers carrying batons and charging towards migrants during the demonstration.
Around 60,000 people swam from Morocco into the Spanish city located on the northern coast of North Africa on Thursday.
The Spanish territory, which shares a land border with the North African country, was overrun as tens of thousands of migrants arrived in just 24 hours.
Arrivals in Ceuta alleged that Moroccan police officers encouraged them as they journeyed towards the enclave.
Mohammed Ahmidho, 37, who heard about the surge of migrants into Spain via social media, said he heard officers saying ‘Come to Spain’ as he neared the border.
Some analysts have suggested that Morocco might have allowed migrants to cross the border to put diplomatic pressure on Spain, which has recently improved ties with Rabat’s arch-enemy neighbouring Algeria.
Migrants carry a fellow migrant, who they say was injured when the Spanish police and military tried to contain the migrants to an area of a beach
Spanish National Police officers carrying batons charge towards migrants
A police officer uses a baton to strike a migrant during clashes between migrants and police
An injured migrant lies in the street after clashes during a demonstration in Ceuta
Some Moroccans also claimed to have been guided by viral social media posts covering a Spanish immigration loophole.
It comes as Spain’s Supreme Court recently ruled that migrants who are stopped at sea attempting to reach Melilla or Ceuta, both Spanish enclaves, could not be summarily sent back to Morocco.
The chaos in Ceuta also spread to Spain’s second North African enclave of Melilla on Friday.
The African enclaves have been enduring days of chaos with cars torched and migrants forcing their way into buildings after the unprecedented influx on Thursday.
Extraordinary footage showed huge numbers of people sprinting up beaches, swimming ashore and dispersing into the streets of Ceuta, which borders Morocco, with some shouting ‘Long live Spain.’
The EU said it would hold a video call on Tuesday after 22 bloc members issued a joint open letter calling for an urgent meeting to agree a speedy coordinated response, and to prevent further uncontrolled crossings.
On Friday morning, Italy‘s government said it was considering ‘extraordinary measures’ including closing the open border Schengen agreement with Spain.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: ‘The images coming from Ceuta are striking and demonstrate, once again, that uncontrolled illegal immigration poses a concrete threat to the security of Europe’s borders.’
France said it will tighten its borders with Spain, with the interior minister giving ‘instructions to immediately step up controls’ across their borders.
Finland said it backs an Italian call for Spain to be excluded from Europe’s passport-free Schengen area.
Moment Moroccans march through Ceuta and clash with police
Clashes between migrants and police in Ceuta
A migrant, who the other migrants say was injured when the Spanish police and military tried to contain migrants to an area of a beach, lies on the ground
Migrants, many of them from Sudan, settle down for the night on Playa del TrampolÃn in Ceuta on August 2
Migrants, many of them from Sudan, take part in evening prayers on Playa del TrampolÃn in Ceuta
Migrants who crossed into Spain from Morocco sleep on a beach
‘Spain has completely failed to protect the Schengen Area’s external border from infiltration. This cannot continue,’ Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said on X.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz demanded Friday that Morocco ‘take back illegal migrants immediately’.
Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, in a letter to EU leaders, blasted the ‘selfish’ reaction of some EU countries.
At least 72 people died during the recent mass influx of migrants into Spain’s Ceuta enclave, Spanish officials said on Sunday, though Moroccan officials later presented a lower estimate.
Most of the estimated 60,000 people who rushed into Spain’s north African territory – most by swimming – have returned to Morocco since the territory’s largest mass migrant crossing.
‘The latest figure that we have is 72,’ the government’s delegate to Ceuta, Miguel Angel Perez Triano, told reporters, when asked about the number of fatalities. The previous toll was 67 deaths.
Later Sunday, Morocco’s interior ministry issued its own toll, saying 11 people had died trying to reach Ceuta. They said 10 people had drowned while one fell from a rocky area.
After migrants flooded into the city, many local shops chose to close early. Although things are slowly returning back to normal, citizens of Ceuta continue to live in fear.
Salvador Ortega, a resident of the enclave, told the Daily Mail that locals are accustomed to seeing small numbers of migrants cross the border, but said the latest arrivals amount to what he described as an ‘invasion’, leaving many residents fearful and uncertain.
‘There are helicopters and ambulances and police everywhere. This is an unsustainable situation that has all the marks of a national emergency, but [Sanchez] is not ready to admit fault with this premeditated invasion.
‘We need the military, from all over Spain and also from the EU. We need help from the EU. The situation is disastrous, especially for those of us in the midst of it.’
Sanchez is facing growing criticism after his government launched a programme earlier this year to provide legal status for some 500,000 undocumented migrants.
The city that prides itself on being home to four cultures was still grappling with the aftermath of the border surge, with locals disagreeing on what caused it and who exactly is to blame.
‘It’s not the young men’s fault,’ said Mohamad Abdelkader Driss, 44, a waiter at a fish restaurant in town.
‘If you open the border, of course everyone comes in, but the young men aren’t to blame. The authorities are responsible.’
The humanitarian crisis caused by the sudden rush of people reignited a debate around immigration in Europe and beyond.
60,000 migrants swam into Ceuta on Thursday
Supporters of the remigration movement attend a protest organized by several hard-right groups on August 2 in Ceuta
Demonstrators hold flags and a banner as groups of hard-right protesters gather in front of the Moroccan embassy in Madrid
Supporters and counter-protesters face each other during a protest organized by several far-right groups on August 2, 2026 in Ceuta
Over the weekend, hard-right, anti-immigrant Spanish politicians and well-known right-wing influencers descended on the city, sparking counterprotests that included members of the Spanish city’s large Muslim population, many of whom are of Moroccan descent.
Alvise Pérez, a far-right Spanish politician and member of the European Parliament, called on Saturday evening for migrants to be expelled as he faced an angry crowd of rival protesters.
Pérez eventually had to shelter in a bar as residents banged on the windows, until police escorted him away.
Among the counter-protesters on Saturday was 20-year-old Ceuta resident and student Noor Ahmed. She denounced the protest and presence of figures like Pérez in her city as opportunistic.
‘They just want to take advantage of the humanitarian crisis Ceuta is currently experiencing,’ Ahmed said.
Santiago Abascal, the leader of the far-right Vox party, visited Ceuta on Sunday, slamming the Spanish government for the surge in migrant arrivals, which he called ‘an invasion.’
‘The frontiers of Ceuta and Melilla are the walls of our home and homeland, and they are not being protected by a corrupt and traitorous government,’ he said.
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