Ceuta: Thousands of migrants crossed into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday after word spread that a border gate had opened, triggering one of the territory’s biggest single-day migration surges in years. Videos from the area showed hundreds of people swimming through a narrow stretch of Mediterranean water using inner tubes and buoys, walking around breakwaters near Tarajal beach and rushing through a damaged border gate. Some young men were heard shouting “Viva España” as they entered Spanish territory. By Friday, Spain’s interior ministry said at least 18 migrants had died while attempting the crossing, with the situation prompting the government to reinforce the border with police and military personnel. Spanish state broadcaster TVE reported that between 2,000 and 3,000 people may have entered Ceuta on Thursday alone. The scale of the arrivals placed immediate pressure on the small autonomous city, which has a population of around 85,000.

The sudden rush did not begin entirely on Thursday. Migrant arrivals had already been increasing for several days, and Ceuta’s local authorities warned on Wednesday that reception facilities were struggling to cope. More than 1,500 migrants had reportedly entered the territory during the previous week, leaving hundreds sleeping on the streets. By Thursday morning, crowds believed to include Moroccans as well as families from sub-Saharan Africa were seen moving through the Tarajal border area and onto local roads. Achraf Maimouni of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights told the Associated Press that the Tarajal border had opened under what he described as unusual circumstances, allowing people to cross. A Guardia Civil spokesperson told Reuters that arrivals had been a “slow trickle” since a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling but had suddenly turned into an “explosion”. Earlier in July, Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that migrants intercepted at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla could not be summarily returned to Morocco under the enclaves’ border-rejection system. The ruling weakened authorities’ ability to immediately return some migrants attempting the sea crossing. Word that the gate had opened then appears to have contributed to the rush towards Ceuta. As of July 15, nearly 3,000 migrants had already entered Ceuta by land or sea this year, according to Spanish government estimates.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government responded by sending 200 specialised police officers and 60 troops from mainland Spain to reinforce the Civil Guard at the border. Ceuta occupies a particularly sensitive position in Europe’s migration system. The territory has been under Spanish sovereignty since 1580 and sits on Morocco’s northern Mediterranean coast. Together with Melilla, located around 400 kilometres to the east, it forms one of the European Union’s two land borders on the African continent. Ceuta’s roughly eight-kilometre frontier with Morocco is protected by a multi-layered fence that has been strengthened since the 1990s. For migrants from Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa, Ceuta and Melilla provide a geographically short route into European territory, although larger numbers generally reach Spain through maritime routes towards the Canary and Balearic Islands. Those who successfully enter Ceuta or Melilla may be placed in migrant reception facilities where they can seek asylum in Spain, while others can face return depending on their circumstances and applicable law. Thursday’s mass crossing, the reported deaths and the deployment of additional security personnel have now put renewed attention on Spain’s migration policy and the difficult task of managing its fortified borders with Morocco.