Spain\u2019s interior minister told a press conference that \u201cnormality is returning\u201d and that the majority of the undocumented migrants had been returned to Morocco.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump has criticised the \u201ccatastrophe\u201d, telling<\/a> a cabinet meeting: \u201cI saw Spain<\/a> yesterday, and I watched the catastrophe that took place. It looks like an invasion of a country. <\/p>\n \u201cHundreds of thousands of people. And that same thing\u2019s going to happen to us if the Republicans don\u2019t get elected, except worse, much bigger, much easier to get into.\u201d<\/p>\n His comments echo others made by senior US officials, with the US department of state placing the blame on the socialist administration of Spanish prime minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Italy is suspending the EU’s border-free Schengen arrangements<\/a> with Spain, and has agreed to strengthen controls along the Franco-Italian land border to try to prevent any undocumented migrants \u2060from crossing.<\/p>\n Ceuta, along with Melilla<\/a>, another Spanish autonomous \u200ccity in northern Morocco, represents \u200bthe European Union’s \u200conly land border \u2060with Africa.<\/p>\n <\/a>Trump wades into Ceuta \u2018catastrophe\u2019 as US blames \u2018radical left-wing policies\u2019 for migrant surge<\/p>\n \u201cI saw Spain yesterday, and I watched the catastrophe that took place. It looks like an invasion of a country,\u201d Trump said in a cabinet meeting on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cHundreds of thousands of people. And that same thing\u2019s going to happen to us if the Republicans don\u2019t get elected, except worse, much bigger, much easier to get into.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the full article here: <\/p>\n Holly Evans1 August 2026 14:17<\/p>\n <\/a>PM says UK offering Spain \u2018what help we can\u2019<\/p>\n Andy Burnham has said he has spoken to Spain\u2019s prime minister Pedro Sanchez and offered \u201cwhat help we can\u201d after around 60,000 migrants breached the border of its territory Ceuta in north Africa.<\/p>\n The prime minister was asked for his response to the crisis in the Spanish territory, which borders Morocco, as he attended a rally following Labour\u2019s victory in the by-election for the Greater Manchester mayoralty on Saturday.<\/p>\n Mr Burnham told reporters: \u201cI have been in touch with the Spanish prime minister and (we are) providing what help we can.\u201d<\/p>\n His brief comments come as Spain announced it was installing a new barrier stretching along the breakwater fence into the sea after around 60,000 migrants breached the border during Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n Holly Evans1 August 2026 13:57<\/p>\n <\/a>Ceuta’s leader says ‘this must not happen again’ <\/p>\n The leader of Ceuta has stressed: \u201cThis must not happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n Juan Jesus Vivas said the territory needs a “border that is fit for purpose” and that “preventative mechanisms” are needed. <\/p>\n “Ceuta is not back to normal yet,” he warned, ,but added that “congratulations are in order” for the huge number of migrants who have since been returned to Morocco. <\/p>\n Holly Evans1 August 2026 13:50<\/p>\n <\/a>Giorgia Meloni calls for action in strengthening European response to illegal migration<\/p>\n In her latest criticism of the situation, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni said: \u201cThe images arriving from Ceuta have once again demonstrated how urgent it is for Europe to respond to illegal immigration. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is why Italy has promoted, together with Denmark, a letter signed by 22 EU Member States, which calls for joint action to strengthen external borders, combat irregular immigration, fight human traffickers, make returns more effective, and eliminate any factor that could incentivize new illegal entries.\u201d<\/p>\n She added that her country\u2019s hardline stance on immigration was now being shared by an increasing number of European countries. <\/p>\n Holly Evans1 August 2026 13:40<\/p>\n <\/a>Spain rejects suggestion country’s stance had encouraged mass influx into Ceuta<\/p>\n Madrid said the people who entered Ceuta irregularly could not travel onwards to mainland \u200bSpain or elsewhere in the Schengen zone.<\/p>\n In a statement, the foreign ministry added that travellers leaving Ceuta by sea or \u200cair undergo police identity checks, representing a second layer of \u2060control after the land border with Morocco.<\/p>\n In contrast to most of Europe, Spain has adopted a more open stance on \u2060migrants, introducing a programme to grant residency to more than half a million undocumented people.<\/p>\n But it has rejected suggestions that the regularisation scheme had encouraged the rush into Ceuta, \u200csaying applicants must prove residence in Spain \u200bbefore January 1, 2026, and five continuous months of residence when applying.<\/p>\n Holly Evans1 August 2026 13:20<\/p>\n <\/a>EU governments call for emergency meeting <\/p>\n Ceuta and Spain’s other \u200cNorth African enclave, Melilla, sit on Morocco’s Mediterranean coast and periodically face attempted crossings by \u200cmigrants seeking to reach Europe.<\/p>\n The latest attempt caused division in the EU, with several countries calling for Spain to ensure that the incident was contained.<\/p>\n Twenty-two EU governments called on Saturday for an emergency meeting of interior ministers over the Ceuta crisis, urging the bloc to help Madrid regain control of its border with Morocco.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Spain’s centre-left prime minister \u2060Pedro Sanchez also asked EU leaders to convene interior ministers urgently, but criticised governments that had called for Spain’s exclusion from the bloc’s passport-free Schengen travel area.<\/p>\n Holly Evans1 August 2026 13:00<\/p>\n <\/a>How arrival of 60,000 migrants into Spanish enclave could affect mainland Europe and the UK<\/p>\n Spain\u2019s prime minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez described the inflow of people as \u201can attack on Spain\u2019s territorial integrity\u201d and promised to \u201cuse all the resources of the state to guarantee security and coexistence\u201d.<\/p>\n Leaders across Europe, including president of the EU commission Ursula von der Leyen<\/a>, have called for swift returns of migrants back to Morocco. UK prime minister Andy Burnham described the chaotic scenes of migrants scrambling onto the shores as a \u201ccause for concern\u201d and said the UK had contacted \u2060Madrid to understand the implications and \u200cprovide support.<\/p>\n Read the full analysis from our home affairs correspondent Holly Bancroft here:<\/p>\n Holly Evans1 August 2026 12:40<\/p>\n <\/a>Some migrants determined to stay in Spanish encalve<\/p>\n Some who made it to Ceuta were determined to stay. <\/p>\n Among them was Mohamed Hatri, a 23-year-old Moroccan.<\/p>\n “They’ve closed everything down so that we can’t buy anything to eat, to force us to return to our country,” he said.<\/p>\n “But even if they close it down \u2014 we’re round to stay here, whether we’re hungry or not.”<\/p>\n Holly Evans1 August 2026 12:20<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2287846380...jpeg\")
A Spanish soldier escorting migrants to the Moroccan border (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n