The migration crisis in Ceuta is a European crisis

The migration crisis in Ceuta, the Spanish autonomous city situated on the northern coast of Morocco, has reached a dramatic peak. Around midday today, thousands of Moroccans crossed the border en masse, on foot and by swimming, whilst the Civil Guard and local emergency services were only able to assist the most seriously injured. This is not an isolated incident. As early as Wednesday, another night of mass crossings had been reported, and the president of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, had described the situation as “extremely serious”. In the last two weeks of July, around 1,500 people entered Spain illegally, averaging 200 arrivals per day. The most shocking figure concerns the casualties: 60 bodies have been recovered from the sea over the last twelve months.

This afternoon, the Ceuta Assembly called on Madrid to declare a national state of emergency, establish a unified command structure, deploy additional police and Civil Guard forces, mobilise the army and even temporarily close the El Tarajal border crossing. However, Pedro Sánchez’s government rejected the request, arguing that the migration flows do not meet the criteria set out in the law. Sánchez wrote on social media that this “is the time to build solutions, with responsibility and cooperation”. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, under intense political pressure, is due to visit the enclave today to assess the situation, but in the meantime, the Moncloa is defending its cooperation with Aziz Akhannouch’s Moroccan government, arguing that Rabat’s security forces are thwarting numerous attempts to cross the border.

The most frequently cited precedent dates from May 2021, when around 8,000 people entered Ceuta in just over 36 hours, in the midst of a diplomatic crisis between Spain and Morocco. The situation could be exacerbated by the impact of a recent Supreme Court ruling which limits immediate deportations to those who breach the physical border barriers, not to those who arrive by swimming.