On Thursday evening (July 30), Ceuta, a six-mile-long peninsula on Morocco\u2019s northern coast that Spain has governed for centuries, grabbed headlines the world over as visuals emerged of thousands of people swimming onto the shores and climbing fences to make their way into the Spanish enclave.<\/p>\n
The rush of crowds trying to breach the border to the North African Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco has also resulted in the deaths of 18 people and prompted a mobilisation of the Spanish military.<\/p>\n
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n
The scenes unfolding at Tarajal beach have even sparked political tensions between Spain and Italy after the latter\u2019s prime minister and foreign minister called for Spain to be suspended from the EU\u2019s visa-free Schengen travel zone.<\/p>\n
But what\u2019s exactly going on? What do we know about Ceuta? Why did it experience such a surge of Moroccans? And what happens next? We give you the full picture.<\/p>\n
What do we know about Ceuta?<\/p>\n
Ceuta is a small Spanish territory located on the northern coast of Africa and shares a land border with Morocco. Although it is in Africa and shares a border with Morocco, it is part of Spain and the European Union (EU).<\/p>\n
Ceuta has been in Spanish possession since 1580. However, Morocco doesn\u2019t officially recognise Ceuta and its larger territory, Melilla, as Spanish territory, and often refers to them as occupied lands.<\/p>\n
Migrants cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on Thursday. AP<\/p>\n
At present, Ceuta is home to 85,000 people \u2014 comprising Christians and Muslims, and Spanish and Moroccans all living in relative harmony.<\/p>\n
Ceuta is also seen as a path to gaining access to Spain and into the European Union. To reach Ceuta, migrants swim from the town of Fnideq in Morocco. Once they swim the five-kilometre stretch, they hope to gain access into the enclave and from there move into Spain.<\/p>\n
However, Ceuta is heavily fortified and many who arrive there are turned back by the Guardia Civil force, which polices Spain\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n
Ceuta has seen previous such surges of migrants in the past too. In May 2021, more than 10,000 migrants entered Ceuta in just two days after Morocco eased border controls during a dispute with Spain over Western Sahara, reported the New York Times.<\/p>\n
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADA man is seen finishing his swim from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. APWhat happened on Thursday evening?<\/p>\n
On Thursday evening (July 30), Footage showed some of the migrants shouting \u201cViva Espa\u00f1a!\u201d as they entered the territory, many of them having travelled by water from the Moroccan side on inflatable devices. Many of them were men, but families with women and children could also be seen.<\/p>\n Migrants flood into Spain’s Ceuta exclave from Morocco.<\/p>\n Madrid says it will despatch soldiers to Ceuta to ensure security after thousands of migrants entered Spain’s north African exclave from neighbouring Morocco and hundreds more are headed there pic.twitter.com\/A9oaQ4OCu7<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Guardia Civil force said that the migrants were \u201cmassively entering from the sea\u201d through the Tarajal breakwater, but could not provide an estimate of the numbers.<\/p>\n The surge in migrants also led to the Rachid Sbihi, the head of the association that represents Guardia Civil officers in Ceuta, was also quoted as saying, \u201cThe situation is absolute chaos. It\u2019s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing.\u201d He added that the border had \u201ctotally collapsed\u201d.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n Later, Spain\u2019s national broadcaster, TVE, reported that between 2,000 and 3,000 people had crossed into Ceuta, while the state news agency, Efe, said some had entered the territory by scaling the high border fence.<\/p>\n Juan Jes\u00fas Vivas, the regional president of Ceuta, noted that the situation was out of hand. He noted that the number of migrants was too many and urged the Spanish government to send more resources.<\/p>\n Vivas was quoted as telling The Guardian that they were overwhelmed and needed \u201cmore resources, more infrastructure, more regulation and effective coordination between all the administrations\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not looking for privileges; we\u2019re looking for a fair and responsible solution in line with our reality,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Responding to the request, Spain\u2019s Interior Ministry announced that the military would reinforce the Civil Guard. \u201cThe armed forces will reinforce the Civil Guard in the exercise of its powers and any others that may be necessary to maintain security in the city of Ceuta,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n Spain\u2019s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, also pledged to return things to normal immediately. \u201cWe\u2019re mobilising all necessary resources, working with Moroccan and international authorities, and preparing the necessary measures to restore normality as soon as possible,\u201d he said in a post on X. \u201cI just conveyed this to President Vivas. This is the moment to build solutions, with responsibility and cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n Some have described the situation as a \u2018Ceuta invasion\u2019 on social media. Santiago Abascal, who leads the far-right Vox party, was among those who described the incident as an \u201cinvasion\u201d and said those crossing into Ceuta were not fleeing war or poverty but had been summoned by S\u00e1nchez\u2019s government to ensure he could remain in power, reported The Guardian.\u00a0<\/p>\n What led to this sudden surge of migrants from Morocco?<\/p>\n According to Spanish authorities, the sudden surge of migrants occurred as human trafficking networks may have encouraged people to attempt the crossing after Spain\u2019s Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that migrants intercepted at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla cannot be immediately returned to Morocco without legal procedures.<\/p>\n But some activists have questioned this notion. Omar Naji, president of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights in Eastern Morocco, expressed doubt that the ruling was behind the surge. Most Moroccans would have been unaware of such legal decisions, he said.<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Some have also linked the surge to Morocco\u2019s anger towards Spain. Analysts noted that the timing of the surge was peculiar. It happened just a week after the Spanish PM met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. These two countries share a rivalry over the control of Western Sahara. Morocco controls about 85 per cent of Western Sahara and claims sovereignty over it, while Algeria strongly backs the pro-independence Polisario Front and hosts Sahrawi refugee camps.<\/p>\n What happens next?<\/p>\n While Spain is working to bring the situation under normalcy again in Ceuta, it has also sparked tensions with Italy.<\/p>\n
\nhundreds and hundreds of migrants<\/a> were seen swimming towards Ceuta, overwhelming border security.<\/p>\n
\ndeaths of 18 people<\/a>. Describing the scenes, migrant rights activist Zakaria Zarroqui told Reuters, \u201cThe situation remains out of control as we speak.\u201d<\/p>\nMigrants storm a barbed-wire fence as they attempt to cross the land border with Spain\u2019s African enclave of Ceuta near Fnideq in northern Morocco. AFP<\/p>\n
Spanish police officers respond as migrants cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. AP<\/p>\n
A man is estactic after crossing from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. AP<\/p>\n
Migrants cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Thursday. AP<\/p>\n