An immigrant crisis has rocked Spain after roughly 60,000 migrants flooded into the Spanish city of Ceuta, located in northern Africa on the border with Morocco.
In the past 24 hours, as tens of thousands have breached the border, at least 34 migrants have died in the chaos. The border crisis had been escalating on the Moroccan side of the border, leading to security forces clashing with migrants who were throwing rocks and setting police vehicles ablaze.
The flood of 60,000 illegal migrants poses a significant crisis for Ceuta, which only has a population of 84,000. Some said the migrants crossed into Spain because of the lack of jobs in their country.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, a Socialist, had previously argued that expanded migration would be good for the economy and the demographics of an aging Spain. Earlier this year, Spain moved to give residency and work permits to hundreds of thousands of migrants already living in the country without permission.
But on Friday, Sánchez condemned the border breach, describing the events as “a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity.”
And his critics have jumped at the opportunity granted them by the endless videos of young Moroccans streaming into Ceuta to attack his policy, saying he encouraged the migrants to come to Spain.
“Sánchez allows Spain to be invaded through Ceuta,” Spanish conservative politician Isabel Díaz Ayuso wrote on X.
PHOTO: Migrants cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Sempere)
The Spanish government is now trying to blame its country’s recent Supreme Court ruling, which declared that “people who swim illegally across the border cannot be returned.” But activists in Morocco said the ruling did not cause the border breach, arguing most migrants would have been unaware of Spain’s legal rulings.
Spain’s border crisis has led to ripple effects across Europe. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni threatened to suspend Italy’s open-border Schengen agreement with Spain “to defend our borders and ensure the safety of our citizens.”
And France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said his country would also strengthen border checks with Spain.
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