![\"Spain](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/lg-webp.webp\")
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Spain accelerates repatriations<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez visited Ceuta on Friday and was met by protesters who shouted insults at him.<\/p>\n
S\u00e1nchez described the crossing as a breach of Spanish sovereignty and announced that authorities were accelerating the return of people who had entered without authorisation. He said Morocco was fully cooperating with the operation.<\/p>\n
Ceuta and Melilla are autonomous Spanish cities on Morocco\u2019s northern coast and form the European Union\u2019s only land borders with Africa. Attempts by migrants to enter the enclaves occur periodically, although the number crossing during the latest incident appeared to be unprecedented.<\/p>\n
Right-wing political parties in several European countries blamed Spain\u2019s migration policies, including an amnesty granted this year to hundreds of thousands of people living in the country without authorisation.<\/p>\n
Spain summoned Italy\u2019s ambassador after Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani argued that the amnesty had encouraged human trafficking.<\/p>\n
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European countries tighten controls<\/p>\n
Italy announced the suspension of Schengen border arrangements with Spain, affecting passengers travelling between the two countries by air and sea. Madrid responded that the decision breached European Union treaties.<\/p>\n
France also prepared to increase the police presence on its border with Spain fivefold by Saturday. French Interior Minister Laurent Nu\u00f1ez announced additional aerial surveillance and patrols on trains.<\/p>\n
Schengen members generally do not conduct checks at their internal borders, although temporary controls may be restored in exceptional circumstances.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump compared the Ceuta arrivals to an invasion during a Cabinet meeting and linked the incident to the forthcoming US midterm elections.<\/p>\n
The US State Department blamed the Spanish government\u2019s migration policies and stated that Washington was considering measures to protect Americans and support European allies examining similar action.<\/p>\n
Staffing and court ruling questioned<\/p>\n
The Unified Association of Civil Guards, or AUGC, wrote on X that too few officers had been deployed along the fence when the crossings began on Thursday, leaving security personnel unable to stop the crowds.<\/p>\n
Territorial Policy Minister \u00c1ngel V\u00edctor Torres identified a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling as another possible factor behind the surge.<\/p>\n
The court ruled earlier in July that people intercepted at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla could not immediately be turned back at the border. Legal experts noted that the judgment did not prevent Spain from subsequently expelling them.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people entered the Moroccan border town of Fnideq overnight despite a reinforced security deployment that prevented most attempts to reach Ceuta. Some began leaving the area later on Friday.<\/p>\n
Although the main crossing routes appeared to have been closed, smaller groups continued moving along the coast in search of ways around the border fence.<\/p>\n
Brahim, a 32-year-old man from Tangier, said he had arrived hoping to pass through a border gate but found it effectively sealed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spain accelerates repatriations Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez visited Ceuta on Friday and was met by protesters who shouted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[25867,695,3593,2264,16055,17,25868],"class_list":["post-64105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-border-crossing","tag-breaking-news","tag-migrants","tag-morocco","tag-riot","tag-spain","tag-unrest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}