Spain sends extra troops and police to Ceuta after thousands of migrants arrive

 

Spain sends extra troops and police to Ceuta after thousands of migrants arrive

 

Unknown number of people have swum and waded into Spanish enclave that neighbours Morocco

 

Sam Jones in Madrid and agencies

Thu 30 Jul 2026 19.28 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/30/thousands-enter-spanish-enclave-ceuta-morocco-africa

 

The Spanish government is deploying extra troops and police officers to its north African enclave of Ceuta after thousands of people swam and waded into the tiny territory from neighbouring Morocco in a matter of hours.

 

Videos shot at Tarajal beach on Thursday showed crowds of people walking around the breakwaters and running on the beach and roads.

 

Most appeared to be young men, but there were also families with women and children. “Viva España!” some shouted to a freelance photographer working for the Associated Press, who was filming the scene.

 

Hundreds of migrants run and cheer as they enter Spain’s enclave of Ceuta

 

A spokesperson for the Guardia Civil force, which polices Spain’s borders, said ⁠the migrants were “massively entering from the sea” through the Tarajal breakwater but could not provide an estimate of the numbers.

 

Spain’s national broadcaster, TVE, reported that between 2,000 and 3,000 people had crossed into Ceuta, while the state news agency, Efe, said some had entered the territory by scaling the high border fence.

 

“The situation is absolute chaos,” said Rachid Sbihi, the head of the association that represents Guardia Civil officers in Ceuta. “It’s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing.” He added that the border had “totally collapsed”.

 

Achraf Maimouni, a member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, described the situation as “exceptional”. He said the Tarajal border had been opened “under unusual circumstances” on Thursday morning and people had crossed over.

 

Juan Jesús Vivas, the president of Ceuta, demanded the deployment of additional police and troops “to guarantee the inviolability of the frontier” and citizens’ safety. He also called on the central government to declare a national emergency over the crossings.

 

Vivas had said on Wednesday that migrant reception centres were overwhelmed, with hundreds of people sleeping on the streets. He said Ceuta needed “more resources, more infrastructure, more regulation and effective coordination between all the administrations”.

 

“We’re not looking for privileges; we’re looking for a fair and responsible solution in line with our reality,” he added.

 

On Thursday evening, Spain’s interior ministry announced that 60 members of the armed forces would be deployed to Ceuta, along with an additional 30 Guardia Civil officers. “The armed forces will reinforce the Guardia Civil in the exercise of its powers and any others that may be necessary to maintain security in the city of Ceuta,” the ministry said.

 

But it rejected calls for the declaration of a national emergency, saying such emergencies could not be declared over migration issues, and could only be declared in response to dire meteorological events – such as the current wildfires – or in the face of a volcanic or nuclear threat.

 

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is due to travel to Ceuta on Friday with the interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska.

 

Sánchez said his government would provide “an immediate response” to the situation in Ceuta, which echoes the border crisis in 2021 when more than 8,000 people arrived in just two days.