Spain has announced the deployment of its military to Ceuta after thousands of migrants crossed into the North African enclave from Morocco, triggering, what the authorities and people are describing as one of the territory’s worst border crises in years. At least nine people died during the mass crossings.The government said the Armed Forces would assist the Civil Guard to “maintain security in the city of Ceuta.”, while Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska travelled to Ceuta on Friday to oversee the response.The latest crisis unfolded on Thursday when thousands of migrants crossed into Ceuta by swimming around breakwaters, using inflatable devices or scaling the border fence. Videos showing large crowds celebrating as they entered Spanish territory quickly spread on social media, highlighting the scale of the influx.Officials said the sudden surge overwhelmed security forces. “The situation is absolute chaos,” said Rachid Sbihi, head of the association representing Civil Guard officers in Ceuta, adding that the border had “totally collapsed”, as quoted by AP.Spanish authorities did not provide an official figure for the number of arrivals, but state broadcaster TVE estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 migrants entered Ceuta within hours. Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas said the territory had already been receiving around 300 migrants by sea each day in recent weeks, leaving reception centres overstretched even before Thursday’s influx.Read more: Videos of Moroccan migrants entering Spain after swimming around border barriers go viralVivas urged Madrid to declare a national emergency and deploy the military, warning that the autonomous city lacked the capacity to manage the crisis on its own.Spain later confirmed that it had reached an agreement with Morocco to facilitate the return of migrants who entered Ceuta illegally, although no timeline for the repatriations has been announced. Spain’s Interior Ministry said Moroccan authorities were cooperating to prevent further crossings and stop people attempting to reach the enclave.Morocco’s embassy in Madrid blamed criminal networks involved in migrant smuggling and human trafficking for the mass crossings, saying Moroccan authorities did not support or encourage the movements.The reason behind the sudden influx remains unclear. Some local authorities suggested a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling, which bars the immediate return of migrants arriving by sea without due process, may have encouraged more people to attempt the crossing. However, migrant rights activists questioned that explanation, arguing that most migrants were unlikely to have been aware of the court’s decision.The latest emergency echoes the 2021 Ceuta border crisis, when more than 8,000 migrants entered the enclave in just two days after Morocco was accused of relaxing border controls during a diplomatic dispute with Spain.Ceuta, along with Melilla, is one of the European Union’s only two land borders with Africa and has long been a focal point for irregular migration into Europe.
