Spain Reports 57 Deaths as Thousands Cross Border from Morocco

In Spain, authorities are reporting at least 57 people died, most of them drowned, as thousands of people attempted to cross into Spanish territory from Morocco.

This started a few days ago, but on Thursday, it reached a tipping point. It was kind of a free for all. Some migrants were swimming to get into Spain around the breakwater that separates the countries. At some point, crowds were just walking in, and law enforcement in Spain was completely overwhelmed. Authorities say that a total of 50,000 people crossed the border.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had to fly to Ceuta, the Spanish territory near Morocco where the migrants were entering, to address this crisis that is turning into a PR nightmare for him. His government has been welcoming of migrants. Today, however, he called the incident a violation of Spain's territorial integrity, using strong words to describe migrants coming into the country.

The international reaction has been swift. The European Commission head, Ursula von der Leyen, warned that dangerous crossings must be stopped immediately. Italy announced that it would screen non-Europeans arriving from Spain. The State Department has also made a connection between this mass crossing and Sanchez's migration-friendly policies. To be clear, there's no evidence of a connection there, but for Sanchez, the optics are just terrible.

Ceuta is about 7 square miles. It's one of the two autonomous cities, the other one being Melilla, a Spanish territory surrounded by Morocco, facing the coast. There are indeed many examples in the past of attempts to cross this border, sometimes by charging it en masse. The last time this happened in Ceuta was five years ago.

These migrants sometimes come from other African countries and beyond, and they might wait around these enclaves for months, even years for the perfect opportunity to cross. But there's something different about this time around. First, most migrants were Moroccan. Most importantly, the Moroccan border authorities were missing.

It's still unclear why this happened. The Moroccan government hasn't commented yet on this. Ignacio Cembrero, a Spanish journalist who has covered the North African region known as the Maghreb, which includes Morocco, for decades, stated that during the first couple of days of this episode, Moroccan law enforcement made a certain effort to contain the flow of migrants. However, he says that after Wednesday, they pretty much stopped trying, and by midday on Thursday, people were just walking into Spanish territory.

Most immediately, the Spanish government says that more than half of the migrants who entered have already returned to Morocco at this point. Morocco is usually an ally when it comes to controlling the border, but they also want things in exchange. Morocco has long claimed interest in annexing Ceuta and Melilla. Needless to say, Spain giving up these territories is not on the table, but Spain needs Morocco's help to control migration. It's something the two countries always talk about, negotiate, and they're destined to reach agreements about.