Spain sends military to Ceuta after migrant surge leaves at least nine dead

Spain is deploying the military in Ceuta after thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco. The surge left at least nine people dead and exposed fresh strain on the border.Image used for representational purposes onlySpain said on Thursday it would deploy the military to help restore order at its border with Morocco in Ceuta after thousands of migrants entered the small Spanish territory, with at least nine people dying during the chaos. The government said the Armed Forces would assist the Civil Guard to “maintain security in the city of Ceuta”.The move came after authorities in Ceuta sought reinforcements from Madrid as large crowds breached the border fence. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is due to visit Ceuta on Friday along with Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.Rachid Sbihi, head of the association representing Spain’s Civil Guard officers policing the border in Ceuta, told The Associated Press that “the situation is absolute chaos”. “It’s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing,” he said, adding that the border had “totally collapsed”. Achraf Maimouni of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights in northern Morocco also described the situation as “exceptional”. “The Tarajal border was opened under unusual circumstances this morning and people crossed,” he said.Video footage showed crowds, mainly Moroccans, walking around the breakwaters at Tarajal beach and onto local roads. Most appeared to be young men, though families with women and small children were also seen. Some shouted “Viva Espana!” to a freelance photographer working for the AP. It was not immediately clear what had prompted so many migrants to cross into Ceuta. Spain’s government delegation in Ceuta said at least nine people died on Thursday, though it did not give details on how they died. Bodies could be seen floating in the water. Local authorities said dozens have died this year while trying to reach Ceuta.The latest surge followed a rise in attempts to reach the enclave, mainly by swimming, on Wednesday. Morocco has not publicly commented on the crossings, and its Interior Ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Spain’s Interior Ministry said Morocco was “closely cooperating” and that Moroccan police were stopping “numerous people” trying to cross. Both countries agreed to work together “for the return, as soon as possible, of all the people who entered Ceuta illegally.” Spain’s Interior Ministry also said it would guarantee the safety of citizens and the integrity of the border, but added that a national emergency could not be declared over migration concerns, as Ceuta’s authorities had requested. The disruption also had an effect in Italy, where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni threatened to suspend Italy’s open-border Schengen agreement with Spain “to defend our borders and ensure the safety of our citizens”, although Italy does not share a border with Spain.Ceuta’s authorities had earlier linked the increase in arrivals to a Spanish Supreme Court ruling this month that barred the immediate return of migrants arriving by sea without due process. The ruling does not apply to migrants entering Spain by land, including by climbing the border fence. Some activists in Morocco questioned that explanation, saying most migrants would not have been aware of such legal decisions.Spain remains a major entry point into Europe for migrants seeking better economic opportunities or fleeing violence in their home countries. To reach Ceuta on the northern African coast, migrants often swim from the Moroccan town of Fnideq, a journey of about 5 kilometres, while others attempt the crossing from nearby Belyounech, where the distance is shorter.The scenes recalled the May 2021 border crisis, when more than 8,000 migrants entered Ceuta in two days. At the time, Morocco was accused of easing border controls after Spain allowed Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali to be treated in a Spanish hospital, sparking a diplomatic crisis between Rabat and Madrid. The Polisario Front says it represents the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara, which Morocco claims as its own.Juan Jesus Vivas, the head of Ceuta’s regional government, asked the national government to declare an emergency on national security grounds and send more police as well as the army to the border “to guarantee the inviolability of the frontier and citizen safety”. He had warned on Wednesday that reception centres were overwhelmed and that hundreds of people were sleeping on the streets after more than 1,500 migrants entered the territory in the past week. Thousands more crossed overnight and on Thursday.Spain’s Interior Ministry did not confirm how many migrants had reached Ceuta in recent days, saying its next migration report would be published on August 3. Ministry figures showed that by July 15, nearly 3,000 migrants had entered Ceuta by land or sea this year. The ministry said laws on declaring national emergencies do not treat migration flows as a national security risk, and that agencies were “coordinating to respond with speed and efficacy to the situation in Ceuta”. The latest crossings have left Ceuta facing a fresh border crisis, with Madrid sending in the military, local authorities seeking more support and the reasons for the sudden surge still unclear.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Jul 31, 2026 08:46 IST