Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday planned to head to the country’s north African exclave after tens of thousands of undocumented migrants crossed the border overnight. 

Spain sent troops to the Ceuta enclave to reinforce the Civil Guard and help maintain security after waves of people crossed from Morocco around the frontier fence to enter Spanish territory, many swimming around the border.

Spain’s ​Interior ​Ministry said on Friday that ​according ‌to ⁠its ‌estimates some ⁠49,000 migrants had crossed ​into ‌the exclave over the past 24 ​hours. 

At least 18 people have died trying to reach the city, a ministry spokesperson said.

‘It’s chaotic’

Rachid Sbihi, who leads a local workers association representing Civil Guard officers described the situation as a “serious humanitarian crisis”.

“People are still entering. The reinforcements that have arrived are only helping the injured and other humanitarian efforts,” he said.

Without shelter, thousands of migrants, including unaccompanied children, were left sleeping in parks and sidewalks, with others roaming the streets aimlessly, he said.

“It’s chaotic,” he added.

Among the 18 people who died, many drowned but some were also killed in the stampede to cross the breakwater fence at Tarajal beach, Sbihi said.

Migration from Morocco into Spain’s two north African territories, Ceuta and Melilla, has long been a sensitive issue between the two countries, as thousands of people cross the border at times.

Italy on Thursday called for Spain to be suspended from Europe‘s open-borders Schengen zone, prompting Spain to summon Italy’s ambassador to Madrid.

On Thursday, AFP reporters saw a stream of adults and children entering Ceuta after having swum there. Discarded flotation rings and clothes were abandoned on the shore near where the border barrier meets the sea.

Sanchez will visit the Tarajal border crossing with Interior Minister Fernando Gramnde-Marlaska on Friday, the government said in a statement.

Ceuta and Melilla have Europe’s only two land borders with Africa.

Behind the scenes

Migrants walked through the streets of Ceuta, thanking the Spanish police and calling out: “Bye bye, Morocco, hello Spain.”

Police and Civil Guards in Ceuta appeared to do little to intervene, although some officers attempted to direct the arrivals to the local migrant reception centre.

Morocco’s authorities had not yet issued an official statement on the influx of people, but a Moroccan official source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the two countries had spoken about the matter.

In 2021, more than 10,000 migrants reached Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco over the course of two days, taking advantage of a loosening of border controls by Rabat during a crisis between the two countries.

That dispute erupted after Spain decided to host the leader of the Sahrawi independence movement, the Polisario Front, for medical treatment.

Polisario guerrillas fought a long war with Morocco over independence of the Western Sahara region. Morocco’s neighbour Algeria had supported the Polisario group.

That diplomatic crisis ended in 2022 when Madrid reversed its long-standing policy of neutrality and backed Morocco’s plan for Western Sahara – a move that had caused a diplomatic rift between Madrid and Algiers.

Sanchez visited Algiers on July 20 – the first such visit by a Spanish head of government in four years – marking a thaw in relations with Algeria. (France 24)

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