Spain\u2019s foreign minister maintains \u2018the integrity of the Schengen area is absolutely guaranteed\u2019.<\/p>\n
Spain says \u201cvirtually all\u201d of the estimated 60,000 migrants who stormed its North African enclave of Ceuta by land and sea in recent days have already left again voluntarily.<\/p>\n
The number of people who had died trying to enter Ceuta was raised to at least 67 on Saturday, Spanish officials said, adding there could be additional casualties on the Moroccan side of the border. Some of the confirmed dead had drowned, and \u2060some were crushed while trying to climb the breakwater that holds the border fence.<\/p>\n
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\u201cVirtually all those who entered Ceuta<\/a> have now returned to Morocco,\u201d Spain\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares, wrote on X on Friday night.<\/p>\n The mass influx of migrants had dismayed European Union governments, and particularly those in the Schengen area \u2013 29 countries that have abolished border controls for travel between them.<\/p>\n European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen on Friday described the images from Ceuta as \u201cunacceptable\u201d, while French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said France would tighten its borders with Spain.<\/p>\n In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni threatened to suspend Italy\u2019s open-border Schengen agreement with Spain \u201cto defend our borders and ensure the safety of our citizens\u201d, though Italy does not share a border with Spain.<\/p>\n Spain\u2019s Interior Ministry said about 50,000 people had crossed the border since Thursday morning, and estimated that 48,300 had returned by 6pm (16:00 GMT) on Friday. Juan Jesus Vivas, head of Ceuta\u2019s local government, said as many as 60,000 people had pushed across over the past couple of days.<\/p>\n Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez<\/a>, who travelled to Ceuta on Friday, said the mass crossing represented \u201ca violation of Spain\u2019s territorial sovereignty\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n Spain announced it was installing a containment barrier along the breakwater fence into the sea.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Moroccan police in riot gear used tear gas and water cannon trucks at the enclave\u2019s border on Friday night to disperse people gathered near the fences and push them back.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t even know why I came, and now I\u2019m going back,\u201d a young Moroccan man, who said he was from Tangier, told Reuters. \u201cI haven\u2019t eaten since lunch yesterday, even though I brought some money with me \u2026 What we\u2019re doing is neither good nor enjoyable.\u201d<\/p>\n