Thousands of migrants invaded the Spanish city of Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday, swimming around the Tarajal breakwater. The mass of mainly young Moroccan men scaled fences and ran into the streets after border forces lost control, with Spanish television estimating that 2,000–3,000 illegal migrants swarmed into the city within hours. Police described ‘absolute chaos’ and a complete collapse in the North African enclave.
Social media footage showed clashes between locals and migrants as the invaders flooded the city, creating civil war-like atmosphere, while businesses closed amid fears of riots and looting.
Ceuta’s conservative mayor-president, Juan Jesús Vivas, demanded that Madrid declare a national emergency, establish a single command, reinforce the police and deploy the army to protect the border and residents. The city’s reception system was already overwhelmed after around 1,500 arrivals during the previous week, with facilities for unaccompanied minors reportedly operating at 2,400 per cent of capacity.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the government was mobilizing resources and coordinating with Morocco, while the Interior Ministry blamed people-smuggling networks for exploiting a recent Supreme Court ruling restricting the immediate return of migrants intercepted while swimming.
Madrid initially rejected the emergency request on legal grounds but later mobilized army units to support the Civil Guard. Spain and Morocco also pledged to return illegal arrivals as quickly as possible.
Right-wing anti-immigration Vox leader Santiago Abascal described the event as an ‘invasion’ and accused Sánchez of creating an enormous pull factor through his government’s ongoing extraordinary regularization programme, launched in April, which received nearly 1.2 million applications—more than twice the government’s initial estimate. Vox demanded the immediate closure of the border, military deployment and rapid pushbacks. People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo likewise described the breakdown as a national-security crisis.
The surge’s precise trigger remains disputed. Madrid says traffickers weaponized the 29 June court decision; Vox points to the government’s regularization programme; and some analysts suspect Morocco deliberately relaxed enforcement amid Spanish overtures to Algeria. Summer conditions and mounting pressure around the enclave may also have contributed.
The scenes spreading rapidly on social media prompted strong reactions from Europe’s right. Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) co-chair Alice Weidel said Ceuta was being ‘overrun’ and demanded closed borders and rigorous refusals of entry, while National Rally leader Jordan Bardella accused Sánchez of opening Europe’s doors through mass regularization. Dutch right-wing leader Geert Wilders called the episode an ‘Islamic invasion’, while Reconquête leader Éric Zemmour demanded restored borders and ‘remigration’.
Even the centre-right EPP Group described the arrivals as massive and uncontrolled, urged Spain and the European Commission to act immediately, and said it would demand answers in the European Parliament. The ECR and Patriots for Europe groups likewise blamed permissive policies and regularization for turning the EU’s external frontier into what Patriots called ‘an open door’.
Additionally, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is reportedly considering temporary restrictions on Schengen travel from Spain over the incident.
A similar invasion unfolded in May 2021, when around 8,000 migrants—including some 1,500 minors—entered Ceuta within two days after Moroccan border controls collapsed, forcing Spain to deploy troops and return more than 6,500 people. The crisis was sparked by a diplomatic dispute between Rabat and Madrid.
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