Spain’s North Africa enclave returns to normal as migrants depart

• Around 60,000 migrants entered Spain’s Ceuta enclave from Morocco but by August 1 almost all had left, with Spanish forces overseeing their return.
• At least 67 migrants died attempting to cross, while European countries tightened border controls and debated suspending Spain from the Schengen zone.
• Migrants cited lack of opportunities in Africa as their reason for crossing, while Spain strengthened border security with new barriers and increased patrols.

CEUTA, Spain – Almost all of the tens of thousands of migrants who entered Spain’s enclave of Ceuta in North Africa had left for Morocco by Aug 1, officials said, as some European Union countries bolstered their border controls over the sudden influx.

An estimated 60,000 migrants entered Ceuta over just a few days from neighbouring Morocco, the enclave’s regional president Juan Jesus Vivas told reporters, but by Aug 1, Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said almost all had left.

“The situation has been almost entirely reversed,” the minister told reporters.

Under the watch of Spanish soldiers and police in the morning on Aug 1, the remaining young migrants continued crossing back over the border to Morocco, AFP journalists saw.

Any who lingered too long on the coastal path were immediately ushered back out by the soldiers.

To cross into Ceuta, many swam around a small border barrier that juts out into the Mediterranean.

At least 67 people died in the attempt, said Grande-Marlaska, providing updated figures on Aug 1.

Souleil Boyan, a 19-year-old Senegalese, told AFP outside a migrant centre in Ceuta where dozens of other sub-Saharan African migrants waited for officials: “We hope to go to Europe to work and earn a living. That’s it.

“We all know that in Africa, there isn’t much opportunity.”

The sudden influx of migrants sparked political panic in Europe.

‘Adios’

Twenty-two EU countries issued a joint open letter on Aug 1 calling for a video meeting of the bloc’s interior ministers “as a matter of urgency” to agree on a speedy coordinated response, and to “prevent further uncontrolled crossings”.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni then wrote on X: “Defending the external borders of the Union is not the interest of a single Nation. It is a shared responsibility of Europe.”

Italy suspended its Schengen agreement with Spain, which allowed for visa-free movement between borders, as at Aug 1 for one month.

Several European countries suggested Spain’s membership in the Schengen free movement zone be suspended, though Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said integrity of the zone was “guaranteed”.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, in a letter to the heads of the European Commission and European Council, blasted the “selfish” reaction by some EU countries.

He backed a video meeting of interior ministers.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on X on Aug 1 that the bloc needed “a lessons learned process to improve our European resilience,” while pointing out that “not a single person reached mainland Spain or the rest of the EU” during the influx.

Madrid had rushed security personnel and equipment to the North African outpost that it has run for centuries.

After a night of wandering the beaches and streets of Ceuta, and sleeping on the sand, some young people turned back to say “adios” or “goodbye” to officers before crossing back to Morocco, AFP journalists observed on Aug 1.

More soldiers stood guard on the small beach next to the border fence, positioned under parasols in the morning.

Buoys and flippers still littered the ground along the fence, while others floated in the water, remnants from the surge of people who had initially swum past the border post.

Nearby, an inflatable boat with security personnel patrolled in the thick fog.

Spain’s Interior Ministry said a new pneumatic barrier 500m in length was installed near the border post to reinforce security.

‘A better future’

In Morocco, 42-year-old Soufian told AFP that he had been planning to make a swim from his coastal town of Martil, located less than 40km from Ceuta, when a friend told him that the border was open.

“It didn’t take long – just five minutes or less, maybe three – since it was right at the border.”

He explained he was motivated by the potential to visit his mother, who is ill and lives in Madrid.

“Even though there’s no food, nothing at all, I’ll endure anything to see my mother,” Soufian said, adding he makes just €10 (S$15) a day working 12-hour shifts as a security guard.

As for the others who crossed, he said “everyone wants to move up, wants a good future – something that doesn’t exist in Morocco”.

What sparked the flow of migrants remains unclear.

Morocco’s authorities have not yet issued an official statement on the flow of migrants.

A Moroccan source close to the border operations told AFP on condition of anonymity on Aug 1 that those being returned by Spain were being transported home directly by bus or via the railway station in Tangier 70km away.

The Fnideq border crossing is now “completely secure”, the source added, as are the hills overlooking it, from which hundreds of people, mostly young men, had thrown stones at security forces on July 31.

Ceuta, a territory of 18.5 sq km, and the nearby enclave of Melilla are Europe’s only two land borders with Africa.

Previous migrant surges have occurred during tensions between Spain and Morocco, including in 2021 which led more than 10,000 migrants to enter Ceuta in just two days. AFP