Spanish PM Sanchez visits Ceuta after thousands cross border, blames traffickers

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, his interior minister and military personnel were bound for the North African enclave of Ceuta on Friday, a day after thousands of people gained irregular entry to the Spanish territory.

At least 18 people died as tens of thousands of people rushed into the small Spanish coastal city, many of them drowning but some also perishing in a stampede to cross the breakwater fence.

Authorities are still puzzling over what prompted such large crowds to suddenly seek entry.

Regional government head estimates 60,000 new arrivals

Preliminary estimates suggest that tens of thousands gained entry on Thursday alone as the Guardia Civil lost control of the border to Morocco.

The head of the autonomous city governemnt, Juan Jesus Vivas, estimated that around 60,000 people had arrived, well over half Ceuta's population.

"Estimates indicated that around 60,000 people have entered our city as a result of this event," he said. "This figure shows that it is impossible to absorb such pressure. It is absolutely impossible."

Around 24 hours earlier, prior to the mass breach, Vivas had issued an esimate of between 1,500 and 2,000.

Ceuta's population is roughly 85,000 people.

"People are still entering. The reinforcements that have arrived are only helping the injured and other humanitarian efforts," Rachid Sbihi, who leads a local workers association representing Civil Guard officers, told the Associated Press.

Both EFE and AP said correspondents observed some people seeking to return to Morocco on Friday, with the city's small migrant reception center completely overwhelmed.

Spain's PM Sanchez blames traffickers for misrepresenting court ruling

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrived in the territory on Friday along with Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.

In a press conference, he called the mass crossings a "violation of Spain's territorial integrity."

Sanchez attributed the sudden increase in people seeking to swim around the border to a rumor being spread by human traffickers, deliberately misinterpreting a recent Supreme Court ruling.

A Spanish Supreme Court ruled earlier in July that immediate returns of migrants crossing the border illegally did not apply to those arriving by sea. However, the case pertained to people crossing the Strait of Gibraltar or the Meditereannean Sea, not people swimming around a land border to enter Spain "by sea."

"What has emerged from our talks with Moroccan authorities is that trafficking mafias took a self-serving interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling," Sanchez said.

Those rumors "spread like wildfire in recent hours," Sanchez added, following the much slower start to the process earlier in the week before Thursday's rush.

Spain has two enclaves, Ceuta and Mellila, on the North African coast bordering Morocco.

A similar crisis hit Ceuta in 2021, when more than 8,000 people are thought to have entered irregularly in a matter of days.

Italy, Finnish minister question Spain's Schengen status

Italy and France both announced they would temporarily boost border checks with Spain.

"In response to the situation observed in the Ceuta enclave, I gave instructions as of last night to immediately strengthen the controls at the Spanish border. Furthermore, I am activating the Rapid Intervention Border Force for in-depth checks," French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez wrote online early on Friday.

Italian right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had on Thursday called for the "suspension" of Spain's Schengen membership. On Friday, Finland's Interior Minister, a member of the right-wing populist Finns Party that's the second-largest in Helsinki's coalition government, said she supported the proposal.

"Spain has completely failed to protect the Schengen Area's external border from infiltration. This cannot continue. All European countries must support Meloni's proposal," Mari Rantanen wrote on Friday.