The Ceuta crisis

1) Around 60,000 migrants, almost all of them Moroccan, crossed illegally into Ceuta, Spanish territory since 1580, within just 24 hours. Ceuta has a population of only 80,000 inhabitants.

2) Three weeks ago, Spain's Supreme Court ruled that migrants who enter Ceuta or Melilla by swimming cannot be summarily returned, and that expedited pushbacks only apply to those who attempt to enter by "overcoming the established border barriers, such as the fences."

3) Spain and Algeria, a geopolitical rival of Morocco, restored friendly relations a couple of weeks ago after a period of strained ties that began in 2022 over the sovereignty of Western Sahara and gas contracts.

4) It is very likely that three factors combined to trigger the mass entry of migrants into Ceuta: (a) news of the Supreme Court's ruling spread; (b) Pedro Sánchez's amnesty for nearly one million undocumented migrants encouraged many others to try to cross; and (c), as has happened on many occasions in the past, when Morocco has wanted to put pressure on Spain during negotiations, Moroccan border guards have "opened the gate" on the Moroccan side, allowing thousands of migrants to cross.

5) Although Ceuta is an integral part of Spain, anyone wishing to travel from the enclave to mainland Spain must present identity documents proving their legal immigration status.

6) For this reason, according to the Spanish government, none of these 60,000 migrants has reached mainland Spain.

7) According to the Spanish government itself, around 45,000 of these migrants have already returned to Morocco after finding neither food nor water, nor any possibility of crossing into mainland Spain.