Spain has deployed military personnel and reinforced security in Ceuta after about 50,000 people crossed into the North African territory from Morocco in an unprecedented migration surge that left at least 57 people dead and triggered political alarm across Europe.
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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who made an emergency visit to Ceuta, described the mass crossing as a violation of Spain’s territorial sovereignty and blamed human-smuggling networks for encouraging the movement.
The representative of the Spanish government in Ceuta said 57 bodies had been recovered on the Spanish side of the border, warning that additional casualties might have occurred on the Moroccan side.
Most of the victims were believed to have drowned while attempting to swim around the border barriers separating Morocco from Ceuta, while others reportedly died during a stampede.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said approximately 50,000 people entered Ceuta on Thursday, a figure representing more than half of the territory’s normal population. By Friday, about half of those who crossed had returned to Morocco.
The sudden influx continued into Friday as security forces clashed with migrants on the Moroccan side of the border and authorities from both countries moved to reinforce security.
Spain deployed soldiers along Ceuta’s coastline and major roads to control the crowds and prevent further unauthorised entry.
Images and videos from the border showed some migrants swimming through the Mediterranean or using inflatable tubes to reach Spanish territory, while others forced their way through a land gate and ran into the city.
Although most of those who crossed appeared to be young men, women, children and entire families were also among the migrants.
A 33-year-old Moroccan identified as Ahmed Karim said he entered Ceuta because of unemployment and the lack of economic opportunities in Morocco.
“Many people want to go to Europe, America, but they don’t have the opportunity,” he said.
Another migrant, Jadid Zacaria, said he was happy to have reached Spain but described the journey through the sea as extremely difficult.
“It’s been a very tough experience to go from the ocean. It was very tough,” he said.
Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish autonomous territory in northern Morocco, are the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.
The two territories, each with a population of about 85,000, periodically experience attempts by migrants seeking entry into Europe, but the scale of the latest movement was described as having little precedent.
It remained unclear what caused tens of thousands of people to attempt the crossing at approximately the same time.
Authorities in Ceuta and Madrid linked the development partly to a recent decision of Spain’s Supreme Court concerning the treatment of migrants who arrive by sea.
The court reportedly held that migrants entering Spanish territory by sea could not be summarily deported in the same manner as those who crossed by land or climbed border fences.
Sánchez said migrant smugglers might have misinterpreted the judgment and used it to encourage people to attempt the sea crossing, although he acknowledged that the ruling might have contributed to the confusion.
Some activists in Morocco questioned that explanation, arguing that most of the migrants were unlikely to have been aware of the legal decision.
The crisis created political difficulties for Sánchez, whose government has adopted a comparatively welcoming approach to immigration while several European neighbours have introduced tougher border policies.
United States President Donald Trump described the situation as “terrible,” while Vice President JD Vance said the scenes demonstrated what he described as the consequences of mass migration and left-wing globalist policies.
The developments also prompted European countries to introduce emergency restrictions despite the European Union’s passport-free travel arrangements.
France announced that it was immediately increasing checks along its border with Spain.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said instructions had been issued to strengthen controls, although he did not provide details of how the measures would operate.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen called for even stricter action, saying France should reinforce its borders in response to what she described as a massive and coordinated movement of migrants into Spain.
She also said that, should she win an election the following year, she would restrict free movement to European nationals.
Italy announced the temporary suspension of passport-free travel arrangements for flights arriving from Spain.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the measure was necessary to protect national security and prevent the Spanish crisis from producing consequences in Italy.
British politician Nigel Farage warned that some of the migrants could eventually attempt to cross the English Channel into the United Kingdom.
He also criticised a recent Spanish programme granting legal status to some undocumented migrants, arguing that it could attract further migration.
Israel also entered the debate amid existing diplomatic tensions with Spain over the war in Gaza.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, questioned Spain’s continued control of Ceuta and Melilla and described the territories as colonial enclaves in Africa.
“Before it continues lecturing us, it’s time it explained to the world why it still maintains colonial enclaves in Africa,” Danon wrote on X.
The mass crossing and resulting deaths have intensified longstanding political divisions over migration within Europe, particularly between governments favouring humanitarian and integration-based approaches and political movements demanding tighter borders and faster deportations.
Spanish authorities continued efforts on Friday to restore order, identify the dead, assist vulnerable migrants and determine what triggered the coordinated movement from Morocco.
Moroccan authorities had not publicly provided a detailed explanation for the incident or confirmed the number of deaths recorded on their side of the border at the time of the report.
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