Tourists’ terror in new migrant landing zone at Spanish resort where arrivals sprint past sunbeds… & plan to reach UK

WITH its shallow coves, crystal clear waters and exclusive beach bar, Cala Del Barco in the exclusive resort of La Manga in Spain is a Brit tourist paradise. But the usually serene scenes here were suddenly shattered last week when a giant dinghy heaving with migrants – many desperate to make it to Britain – sailed over the horizon and crashed into the shore. A picturesque cove loved by tourists at La Manga in Spain became a scene of chaos last week Credit: Louis Wood Masked smugglers from Africa at the helm of the high-speed vessel watched on as around 60 migrants – the vast majority being men – plunged into the azure blue Mediterranean sea and scrambled onto dry land. The traffickers then made their sea-borne escape as holidaymakers relaxing on sun loungers fled from the beach in panic. Terrified families sought refuge in lifeguard huts until the desperate arrivals had crossed the beach and moved inland. As many as 80,000 illegal migrants are believed to have made it to Spain this year – but mainly via the African enclave of Ceuta where scenes of chaos erupted last month. Here tens of thousands stormed into the area from Morocco in an overwhelming assault on the border. But this brazen landing in the heart of the Costa tourist mainland signals a new frontier in the battle to protect Europe’s borders. And it shows the terrifying risks smugglers are willing to take to evade capture and deliver their human cargo – who can pay upwards of 12,000EURO (£10,000) to make the perilous journey. Spanish authorities fear La Manga could become a surprise new migrant landing zone – the latest flashpoint in Europe’s border crisis. Shocking footage shows stunned tourists watch as migrants leapt off their dinghy and sprinted up the beach Credit: Solarpix Migrants scaling the hills around the cove and making their way into the town of Atamaria Credit: Solarpix Alvaro Valera and Jose Romero are lifeguards at Cala del Barco beach where a boat dropped off illegal migrants Credit: Louis Wood Carolina Zamora works in a cafe near the beach Credit: Louis Wood RESORT OF FEAR When The Sun visited La Manga this week, locals, bar owners and holidaymakers remained terrified. Looking out across the now-calm Cala del Barco beach, 18-year-old lifeguard Álvaro Valera describes the frenzied scenes he witnessed just days earlier. “When I saw the boat coming in, with hooded men and migrants jumping into the sea, I immediately called the police,” he recalls. “People were running everywhere. Some came up to our booth and were asking to come inside – they were very nervous, very scared and frightened.” Scores of shirtless men staggered through the beach, weaving between parasols and abandoned picnic blankets, as they headed to the craggy hills that lead into the town. Daniela Liarte, 20, who works at the beach bar, remembers the migrants’ jubilation as they stepped onto European sand. “It was shocking. They all looked so happy. They were shouting ‘viva la Espana’ and walked right through. I have never seen anything like it,” she says. Cops from the Spanish Civil Guard raced to the scene and were met by a stream of migrants scaling the hill around the cove. They were en route to the tourist-packed town of Atamaria where they hoped to either make a clean escape or be captured and try to claim asylum. A recent Spanish court ruling restricted the immediate expulsion of migrants who enter the country by the sea, prompting a massive influx of arrivals. That decision was quickly overruled after the Ceuta crisis in July, allowing for the quick removal of many of the migrants. It is a speedier expulsion process than is seen in the UK where differing geography and legal frameworks muddy efforts to expel illegal migrants. A migrant leaps from the packed dinghy into the sea to reach the shore Credit: Solarpix Sun reporter Claudia Lee visits La Manga – the new migrant landing zone Credit: Louis Wood In Atamaria, officers arrested 62 people, including 45 men, two women, and 15 boys, and the migrants were handed over to the Spanish National Police. CEUTA CRISIS The shocking takeover of Cala del Barco last Wednesday comes just weeks after the mass crossing in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Tens of thousands descended on the tiny outpost on the border with Morocco, sparking chaos and sending shockwaves across the continent. And locals in La Manga – a scenic spit of land on the Mercia coast – say the astonishing beach landing was just one of four landings in the area that week. Shaded from the 33C heat beneath a palm tree, lifeguard Jose Romero, 26, says: “What happened on Wednesday was shocking because it was broad daylight – people were here at the beach and they were scared. “But this is very common. We had three other boats coming into this beach at night trying to get into the town that week.” A British cafe owner just down the hill from one of the club’s sprawling golf courses said migrants had wandered into her restaurant after clambering out of the sea. She recalls: “A few weeks ago they came in here, sat down and had their breakfast and waited for the police to come and get them.” A scenic golf course at La Manga Credit: Louis Wood Adrian Martinez owns a bar near La Manga resort Credit: Louis Wood It’s unclear if they paid for their meal. La Manga on Spain’s south east coast is more than 100 miles from the nearest African coastline in Tunisia across the rough and deep Mediterranean. Estimated deaths for all combined migrant routes toward Spain exceed 1,300 this year alone. LOCAL FURY The latest arrival, captured in footage that quickly went viral, has sparked fury from local leaders who slammed gaps in the region’s maritime border security. Francisco Bernabé, a conservative senator from the nearby town of La Unión, wrote in a scathing social media post: “Why was it not possible to detect a vessel of that size with radars before it could land? “Are they broken? Do they have them turned off? Or are they working and they simply ignore them?” Noelia Arroyo, the mayor of the nearby port city of Cartagena, said the illegal crossings “cannot be normalised”. She told Cadena Ser radio: “If a migrant can reach a cove like this, disembark in full view of citizens and leave, we have to ask ourselves how the control of our maritime borders is working.” While Spanish authorities fumed over the breach, Brits on holiday were concerned with where the migrants may head next. A British dad-of-two holidaying with his family in the area said: “All these migrants were coming into the town talking about trying to get to Calais, to cross the channel into the UK. “It was insane.” So far this year nearly 16,000 people have arrived in the UK having crossed illegally from France. Footage showed the mass of people wading through the water and marching onto the packed beach at La Manga Credit: Solarpix Migrants who crossed from Morocco into Spain via the Spanish exclave of Ceuta Credit: AP Mark, 46, and James, 47, from Durham, who own a property close to the beach, describe the incident as “disgraceful”. Teacher James says: “When we saw it on the news, so close to where we live, that’s terrifying. “It’s scary to think of what could happen. It’s already happening back home. It’s a real problem.” A British mum who has been visiting the area on holiday for 30 years says: “We arrived on Saturday and it was the first time I’ve been nervous to come here – I’ve got young kids and seeing the video of that boat worried me.” But others were impressed by the Civil Guard’s rapid response – and called on British officials to take note. One holidaymaker recalls: “Drones went up in the air straight away and there were police everywhere. “They all got stopped and taken away. “In the UK that doesn’t happen. It’s just this ongoing problem that no one is dealing with. “Here the police were right on it, they wanted to support the community and make you feel safe.” TOURIST HAVEN Set in 1,500 acres of olive and lemon groves, the nearby La Manga Club boasts more than 2,000 properties, three championship golf courses, eight international-standard football pitches and 28 tennis courts. The resort has hosted several high-profile celebrities in the past including the likes of David Beckham, Matt Damon, Salma Hayek and Robbie Williams. While La Manga’s tight security has so far been able to deal with the recent spate of small boat arrivals, locals fear there will be many more on their way. Ella Kate-Potter, 24, who works in a Tobacco shop close to Cala Del Barco, says: “There are so many migrants coming into Spain. “If they don’t get them straight on a boat and send them back more will keep coming.” Just an hour away in Mazarron, locals said migrants had stormed into the town after a small boat arrived last week under the cover of darkness. Carolina Zamora, 41, who works in a cafe near La Manga resort, says: “My parents live there [Mazarron]. “They called me and said migrants have been coming off the boats into the town, banging on doors, shouting in the streets late at night. “We have very good security here but elsewhere this is causing a big problem. People feel unsafe and scared.” As horror stories from nearby areas reach La Manga, a collective tension has gripped the resort’s residents. “It’s very weird that smugglers are dropping migrants near a private resort like this,” Adrian Garcia Martinez, 34, who owns a bar near La Manga says. “At the moment I think it’s under control. But in other cities they have not been as lucky. “We’re hearing about the sexual assaults in these towns after the boats arrive.” The Sun has been unable to independently verify this claim. Arrivals by sea to mainland Spain have increased by 31.1 per cent – from around 3,900 to 5,000 people – in the first seven months of 2026. The steady increase came to a head just three weeks ago when 80,000 Moroccans stormed the Spanish border into Ceuta – an EU border on the African continent. Most were corralled back across the land border to their home nation by heavily armed Spanish riot police. But the incident – which is believed to be the single biggest day of migrant arrivals in EU ­history – has sparked deep concern across the continent. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp tells The Sun: “What Spain has done with illegal migrants in Ceuta could be done here. “We need to leave the ECHR so that illegal immigrants can be near-immediately deported on arrival. “Then pretty quickly the endless illegal immigrants crossing the channel will stop. “Spain has taken a tough approach in Ceuta and its about time the government here did the same.”