{"id":576975,"date":"2026-07-31T10:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T10:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/576975\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T10:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T10:30:10","slug":"spain-estimates-almost-50000-migrants-crossed-into-ceuta-over-past-24-hours-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/576975\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain estimates almost 50,000 migrants crossed into Ceuta over past 24 hours \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spain\u2019s \u200cinterior ministry said on \u200bFriday that according \u200bto \u2060its estimates \u200csome \u200c49,000 \u200bmigrants had \u2060crossed into \u200bthe \u200benclave \u200cof Ceuta \u200bin North \u2060Africa \u2060over \u200bpast 24 hours, as they \u200crushed by \u2060sea and land \u200cfrom \u200bMorocco.<\/p>\n

The number \u200cof people who died on Thursday trying \u200cto enter the Spanish<\/a> enclave of Ceuta \u200bin North Africa rose to 18, as migrants rushed by sea and \u200bland from Morocco<\/a>, a Spanish interior ministry \u2060spokesperson said on Friday.<\/p>\n

Spanish state television \u200cTVE \u200csaid \u200bbetween 2,000 and 3,000 people crossed into Ceuta \u2060on Thursday. \u200bMost of those \u200bwho succeeded in crossing appeared \u200cto have done so \u200bbefore midday, according to residents of \u2060the Moroccan \u2060city \u200bof Fnideq.<\/p>\n

Spain sent military and police reinforcements to Ceuta on Thursday after the surge.<\/p>\n

Ceuta, along with Melilla, another Spanish autonomous city in northern \u200cMorocco<\/a>, represents \u2060the European Union\u2019s only land border with Africa. Both cities \u200cperiodically experience surges in attempted crossings by \u200bmigrants seeking to \u200breach Europe.<\/p>\n

Videos shot at Tarajal beach on Thursday showed crowds of people walking around the breakwaters and running on the beach and roads.<\/p>\n

Most appeared to be young men, but there were also families with women and children. \u201cViva Espa\u00f1a!\u201d some shouted to a freelance photographer working for the Associated Press, who was filming the scene.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Guardia Civil force, which polices Spain\u2019s borders, said \u2060the migrants<\/a> were \u201cmassively entering from the sea\u201d through the Tarajal breakwater but could not provide an estimate of the numbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation is absolute chaos,\u201d said Rachid Sbihi, the head of the association that represents Guardia Civil officers in Ceuta. \u201cIt\u2019s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing.\u201d He added the border had \u201ctotally collapsed\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"MigrantsMigrants reaching the shore of Ceuta. Photograph: Luc\u00eda Diaz\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Achraf Maimouni, a member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, described the situation as \u201cexceptional\u201d. He said the Tarajal border had been opened \u201cunder unusual circumstances\u201d on Thursday morning and people had crossed over.<\/p>\n

Juan Jes\u00fas Vivas, the president of Ceuta, demanded the deployment of additional police and troops \u201cto guarantee the inviolability of the frontier\u201d and citizens\u2019 safety. He also called on the central government to declare a national emergency over the crossings.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Spain sends extra troops to Ceuta after thousands of people swim into territoryOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Vivas had said on Wednesday that migrant reception centres were overwhelmed, with hundreds of people sleeping on the streets. He said Ceuta needed \u201cmore resources, more infrastructure, more regulation and effective co-ordination between all the administrations\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not looking for privileges; we\u2019re looking for a fair and responsible solution in line with our reality,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez<\/a>, is due to travel to Ceuta on Friday with the interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska.<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez said his government would provide \u201can immediate response\u201d to the situation in Ceuta, which echoes the border crisis in 2021 when more than 8,000 people arrived in just two days.<\/p>\n

\"MigrantsMigrants swim in the sea to reach a beach in Ceuta. Photograph: Luc\u00eda Diaz\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re mobilising all necessary resources, working with Moroccan and international authorities, and preparing the necessary measures to restore normality as soon as possible,\u201d he said in a post on X. \u201cI just conveyed this to president Vivas. This is the moment to build solutions, with responsibility and co-operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

This month \u200bSpain\u2019s supreme court ruled that migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to reach Ceuta \u2013 or Spain\u2019s other north African territory of Melilla \u2013 could not be summarily returned under the enclaves\u2019 special border rejection regime.<\/p>\n

The Guardia Civil spokesperson told Reuters: \u201cIt has been a slow trickle since the supreme court\u2019s ruling, but today has been an explosion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alberto N\u00fa\u00f1ez Feij\u00f3o, the leader of the conservative opposition People\u2019s party, to which Vivas belongs, said the situation was desperate. \u201cThe government can\u2019t look the other way,\u201d he added, \u201cbecause we are facing a national security crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santiago Abascal, who leads the far-right Vox party, described the incident as an \u201cinvasion\u201d and said those crossing into Ceuta were not fleeing war or poverty but had been summoned by S\u00e1nchez\u2019s government to ensure he could remain in power.<\/p>\n

Moroccan government sources attributed the surge to \u201ccriminal organisations\u201d and said its co-operation with Spain remained \u201cexemplary\u201d.<\/p>\n

The mass crossing into Ceuta in May 2021 came amid heightened tensions between Madrid and Rabat over Spain\u2019s decision to allow a Western Sahara independence leader to be treated for Covid-19 in Spain. Speaking at the time, S\u00e1nchez hinted at a link between the sudden relaxing of border controls and the diplomatic tensions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the president of Spain, I believe firmly that Morocco is a partner country, it\u2019s a country that is a friend of Spain and it should continue this way,\u201d he said. \u201cTo be effective, this co-operation needs to always be based on respect. Respect for mutual borders.\u201d \u2013 Reuters, The Guardian <\/p>\n

[\u00a0European wildfires in graphics: France and Spain battle blazes as another heatwave approachesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spain\u2019s \u200cinterior ministry said on \u200bFriday that according \u200bto \u2060its estimates \u200csome \u200c49,000 \u200bmigrants had \u2060crossed into \u200bthe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,30898,43,2846,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-576975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-morocco","tag-news","tag-spain","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}