Hundreds Arrested After Failed Migrant Push to Spanish Enclave

Hundreds of migrants attempted to breach the border of Ceuta in a second organized push toward the Spanish enclave before they were stopped by riot police. Large groups of men tried to force their way through the crossing at the northern tip of Africa. This event happened just two weeks after 72,000 people swam across from Morocco and reached the beach, with 145 losing their lives in that previous ordeal. Moroccan media outlet Le360 reported that at least 300 individuals were arrested, including 46 Moroccans and the rest hailing from sub-Saharan Africa. Spanish news agency EFE noted that authorities used tear gas to break up crowds gathered on hills about 3km or roughly 1.9 miles away from the border. Later, reporters saw hundreds of officers in riot gear returning from those hills outside Fnideq as huge numbers of men poured down the slopes near Ceuta during the failed attempt.

Messages began circulating on social media in the weeks before this crossing, calling for a new invasion of the Spanish territory. On Saturday morning, police and military personnel from both Spain and Morocco were deployed early. Earlier this week, Rabat stated it was monitoring 'the circulation of social media posts and messages of unknown origin' that urged a mass crossing on August 15. The capital warned it would prosecute both organizers and participants. One message posted to an online forum claimed the Ceuta border would be open on the 15th, which is a public holiday in Spain. People were also being urged to cross into Melilla, another Spanish autonomous city on Africa's northern coast. These two cities form the European Union's only land borders with Africa. Social media was previously blamed for organizing the first large-scale attempt.

Inside Ceuta, Spanish soldiers guarded supermarkets while police heavily patrolled the main streets. The city felt calmer than in the days following the deadly crossing attempt on July 30. Madrid has since installed a maritime barrier and deployed more than 500 additional police officers from mainland Spain, bringing the total force in Ceuta to over 1,600. The Interior Ministry said these reinforcements would stay as long as needed. 'We'll continue to deploy whatever personnel are necessary to restore normality as soon as possible and prevent events like those of July 30 from happening again,' Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters on Thursday. He added that about 5,000 migrants remained in the enclave at that time.

Mr Grande-Marlaska made it clear that migrants who entered irregularly would not be allowed to stay in Ceuta, travel to mainland Spain, or obtain legal status unless they fell into rare cases of extreme vulnerability. Those without a right to remain would be returned to Morocco. Moroccan security forces watched closely as they thwarted attempts by hundreds of sub-Saharan African and Sudanese migrants to enter the city. Witnesses observed reinforced security near the border line, including police vans equipped with wire shields and road checkpoints. Local media reported similar measures were in place near Melilla. Authorities also prevented several groups from boarding trains and buses heading to northern Morocco in cities such as Casablanca, Fez, and Kenitra.

Witnesses speaking to Reuters reported that migrants from sub-Saharan Africa managed to bypass security checkpoints by taking mountain routes toward Fnideq. One local source said schools in Fnideq had been converted into accommodation for security forces deployed near the border. Many of the young people who entered Ceuta on July 30 were seen fishing, swimming, or washing at Tarajal beach on Friday.

Driss Sadik, a twenty-two-year-old from Fez who claimed he swam for five hours to reach Ceuta, urged others not to follow his example. The important thing I would advise people trying to cross: Don't cross now, my brothers. You're only going to suffer, he told Reuters. The warning was echoed by Adil Jamil, seventeen years old. Those who enter aren't going to benefit from anything. There will just be more and more of us, and they won't find a solution for all, he said.

Adil said that the mass border crossings were planned by people who pick a date, gather in Fnideq, and cross together to find strength in numbers. According to El Pais, one message posted to online forums where migrants discuss mobilizing read: The Ceuta border will be open on the 15th of August, a public holiday in Spain. Rachid el-Jalfi, a spokesman for Morocco's Ministry of the Interior, said on Wednesday that all necessary measures had been taken to prevent illegal crossings. He urged those planning to travel to Ceuta or Melilla to ignore online messages that appeared suspicious and deceptive, warning that attempts to cross posed serious risks to people's safety.

Early last month, Spain's top judicial body ruled that a procedure used to return illegal migrants only applied when they breached a physical border, rather than when they arrived by sea. Under the ruling, migrants who cross an unmarked maritime border can still be returned, but only through a separate formal procedure. The crisis began on July 30, when more than 72,000 migrants surged into Ceuta. The following day, the Spanish government announced plans for a maritime containment barrier, which it began installing off the coast on August 1.

The influx also triggered a diplomatic row within the European Union after Italy temporarily suspended its Schengen arrangements with Spain and introduced checks on travelers arriving from the country by air and sea. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described the uncontrolled immigration from Morocco into Ceuta as a national security threat. Spain summoned the Italian ambassador in response, with Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares saying Madrid expected European solidarity and not partisan demagoguery. Spain then suspended its own Schengen arrangements with Italy.

Spanish authorities are meanwhile processing migrants who remain in Ceuta ahead of possible returns to Morocco. Officials are using warehouses in Tarajal and elsewhere in the enclave to temporarily house migrants while they are identified and processed, with authorities hoping to return those without a right to remain within 72 hours of locating them. The aftermath of the crossing has also been marred by allegations that several young migrant girls were raped after arriving in Ceuta.

The alleged victims, all under the age of fourteen, sought treatment at the University Hospital of Ceuta this past week, health services told the El Pueblo de Ceuta newspaper. Judicial sources said many of the alleged rapes were prevented by the direct intervention of residents of Ceuta. Some residents of the autonomous city were also among the accused, however.