{"id":64317,"date":"2026-08-01T13:31:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T13:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/64317\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T13:31:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T13:31:24","slug":"spain-installing-containment-fence-on-ceutas-border-with-morocco-following-massive-frontier-rush-that-killed-67","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/64317\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain installing containment fence on Ceuta\u2019s border with Morocco following massive frontier rush that killed 67"},"content":{"rendered":"

CEUTA, Spain (AP) \u2014 Spain announced it was installing a 500-meter-long (1,600-foot) containment barrier on the sea border between its North African territory of Ceuta and neighboring Morocco after between 50,000 and\u00a060,000 migrants breached\u00a0the frontier earlier this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The death toll has climbed to 67, including some who drowned and others who were killed in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier, the Spanish government said Saturday.<\/p>\n

A handful of exhausted migrants who swam to Ceuta\u2019s urban Tarajal beach Saturday morning were met by soldiers who escorted them back across the border. <\/p>\n

Migrants gather along the fence close to the site of clashes near Fnideq, on the Morocco-Spain border, on Friday, July 31, 2026.\u00a0 AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Spanish army soldiers and Guardia Civil officers stand guard as migrants return to Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. AP Photo\/Antonio Sempere<\/p>\n

Spanish army soldiers assist a migrant who swam from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on Aug. 1, 2026.\u00a0 AP Photo\/Antonio Sempere<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s interior ministry says the majority of those who entered the Spanish territory in North Africa have already returned to Morocco<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are relentless against those who break the law,\u201d Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told journalists in Ceuta on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Questioned how this massive border breach<\/a> could have happened given the heavy security on both sides of the border and whether Morocco posed a threat to Ceuta, Marlaska defended the government in Rabat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe events require an evaluation by Spain and Morocco,\u201d he said. But it was the cooperation with its neighbors that allowed Spain \u201cto revert the situation in 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMorocco is not a threat to Ceuta, or to the rest of Spain. It is a reliable partner,\u201d Marlaska emphasized.<\/p>\n

After days of chaos<\/a> and streets packed with people who had hoped for a better life in Spain, residents of Ceuta woke up Saturday to an uneasy calm.<\/p>\n

Migrants return to Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on Aug. 1, 2026. AP Photo\/Antonio Sempere<\/p>\n

Even so, security in the autonomous city of 84,000 remained bruised.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife in this city has been disrupted as a result of the border incident,\u201d said Ceuta\u2019s President Juan Jes\u00fas Vivas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe return of people has begun<\/a> satisfactorily but the process must be completed,\u201d he said. \u201cThe city has not yet returned to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the latest on the illegal immigration crisis in Ceuta, Spain:<\/p>\n

In the Moroccan city of Tangier, about 75 kilometers (46 miles) west of Ceuta, the main railway station was busy with people returning from Ceuta or the border. <\/p>\n

Some slept on the ground, exhausted, as passersby watched from a distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to cross, but I failed. I stayed near the border with Ceuta for two days, but I couldn\u2019t find anything to eat,\u201d said Abdalah, an aspiring migrant who asked that his last name not be published out of fear of retaliation for trying to cross illegally<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Migrants run from Spanish police officers after crossing from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on July 31, 2026.\u00a0 AP Photo\/Antonio Sempere<\/p>\n

On the road leading to the Moroccan town of Fnideq, which borders Ceuta, many migrants were seen walking toward the fence, some barefoot, apparently hoping to try their luck.<\/p>\n

Taxi drivers and bus operators were refusing to take them, fearing retaliation from authorities.<\/p>\n

Police officers were deployed along the road, stopping and checking every vehicle heading toward Fnideq.<\/p>\n

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But some who made it to Ceuta were determined to stay. Among them was Mohamed Hatri, a 23-year-old Moroccan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve closed everything down so that we can\u2019t buy anything to eat, to force us to return to our country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut even if they close it down \u2026 we\u2019re round to stay here, whether we\u2019re hungry or not.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CEUTA, Spain (AP) \u2014 Spain announced it was installing a 500-meter-long (1,600-foot) containment barrier on the sea border…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[191,6213,3178,826,3593,2264,17,394],"class_list":["post-64317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-borders","tag-illegal-immigrants","tag-immigrants","tag-immigration","tag-migrants","tag-morocco","tag-spain","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64317","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=64317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}