About 50,000 to 60,000 migrants flood into Ceuta, Spain, 37,500 have been repatriated
Since early last Friday, approximately 50,000 to 60,000 migrants have surged from Morocco into Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa.
The Spanish Ministry of the Interior stated that about 37,500 have returned to Morocco, with repatriation continuing in accordance with agreements with Morocco; local officials estimate the scale of entry to be 60,000, equivalent to about 70% of Ceuta's population, during which several dozen people have died.
The incident has driven accelerated border control and bilateral repatriation, with resources directed towards military and police deployment and rapid repatriation, benefiting the cooperation mechanism between Spain and Morocco, while putting pressure on local facilities in Ceuta and EU border coordination.
Source: Public information
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Spain and Morocco have previously established multiple border cooperation agreements, including repatriation arrangements after a similar large-scale influx in 2021, relying again on bilateral mechanisms to quickly reverse the influx.
The large-scale influx is related to a recent Supreme Court ruling that limits immediate maritime repatriation, with capital and administrative pathways shifting towards strengthening physical barriers and enforcing agreements, motivated by the desire to restore territorial control and avoid escalating pressure within the EU.
Similar large-scale crossings of enclaves occurred during the Ceuta crisis and the Melilla incident in 2021, with the current EU southern border in a phase of judicial restrictions and practical control negotiations.
This essentially reflects regulatory changes: the court ruling altering immediate repatriation rules triggered a short-term large-scale attempt, with the mechanism combining legal windows and smuggling networks, prompting authorities to accelerate agreement repatriation to restore border order.
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