Several fires are being reported in a Moroccan port town neighbouring a Spanish territory as riots broke out

Tannur Anders UK & World News Reporter

02:09, 31 Jul 2026Updated 02:30, 31 Jul 2026

An image depicting a scene of intense urban conflagration at night. A vehicle, possibly a bus, is engulfed in flames, casting an orange glow over the surrounding area. Several buildings can be seen in the background, with one particularly illuminated. The foreground shows scattered debris and traffic cones, suggesting the disruption of normal city activity. Smoke rises prominently in the sky, indicating the severity of the fire.

Vehicles are on fire in Beni-Enzar(Image: X)

Multiple fires have been reported in a Moroccan port town neighbouring a Spanish territory as riots erupted in the area.

The blazes are said to be located in Morocco’s Beni-Enzar town, close to the border with the Spanish autonomous city of Melilla.

The fires are understood to have broken out amid violent clashes after thousands of migrants stormed a border crossing between the two countries on Thursday, July 30.

Moroccan nationals flooded into a Spanish territory, with videos and images circulating on social media showing crowds of people making their way along the breakwaters at an urban beach near a border checkpoint of Ceuta with Morocco.

Footage also captured vehicles ablaze on Moroccan soil, reports the Daily Star.

Local news outlet El Faro de Melilla is reporting that the fires are the result of arson.

At night, a fire has engulfed a vehicle on a city street, with smoke rising into the air. Several individuals are gathered around the burning vehicle, while other vehicles are parked nearby. Streetlights and buildings are visible in the background.

Several fires caused by arson are being reported in Beni-Enzar(Image: X)

The government of Ceuta — also a Spanish territory — announced on Thursday, July 30 that between 1,500 and 2,000 people had entered over the preceding 10 days, with hundreds more estimated to have arrived on Thursday alone.

Ceuta and Melilla sit on the northern shores of the Mediterranean coast at the tip of Africa. Both autonomous cities are Spanish territories and share the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.

Morocco does not officially recognise Ceuta and Melilla as Spanish territory, frequently referring to them as occupied lands.

Rachid Sbihi, head of the association representing Spain’s Civil Guard officers policing the border in Ceuta, said: “The situation is absolute chaos.

“It’s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing.”

He went on to state that the border had “totally collapsed.”

Local authorities in Ceuta have appealed to the central government in Madrid for additional support to handle the border crisis, however Spain’s Interior Ministry has dismissed calls to declare a national emergency, stating that the measure does not encompass migration crises.

It subsequently announced that the armed forces would deploy 60 troops to bolster the border.

The escalating situation at the frontier between Spain and Morocco follows a significant surge in migrants attempting to reach the small exclave, predominantly by swimming, on Wednesday.

At least 17 people have lost their lives while attempting to swim into Ceuta, according to police sources.