According to Reuters, thousands of migrants stormed Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday, with state TV reporting 2,000 to 3,000 crossings in a single day. Footage showed hundreds swimming with inflatable tubes through the Tarajal breakwater while others broke through a border gate and ran into the city shouting “Long live Spain.”
The mass entry overwhelmed Guardia Civil police and triggered humanitarian emergency warnings from Ceuta leader Juan Jesus Vivas, who said reception centres for minors are operating several times over capacity. Many shops in the city of 85,000 shut down as residents feared disturbances.
The Spanish Interior Ministry said it will deploy three army platoons, a diving unit, a military vessel and 200 special police officers by Friday to reinforce the border, and vowed immediate deportation of illegal entrants. The surge recalls May 2021 when 10,000 people entered Ceuta in days.
[PHOTO: Reuters]