Regardless of the majority of illegal migrants who stormed Spanish Ceuta having returned to Morocco following the largest mass border crossing of this territory, the reaction from European countries remains extremely harsh.
Most of the rougly 60,000 people who flooded into the North African territory of Spain have returned to Morocco following the largest mass border crossing of this territory, the Spanish government said. The death toll has also been updated, with a government spokesperson in Ceuta stating that 72 people have died.
Numerous images on social media and in the media show migrant crowds waiting outside a temporary reception centre for migrants in the Spanish enclave. On Sunday, Spanish police and troops patrolled the streets of Ceuta, as daily life in the enclave had returned to normal following the sudden mass influx of migrants between Wednesday and Friday. However, life is far from peaceful, as conservatives from various parts of the country flocked to Ceuta at the weekend to protest against migrants.
During the protest, co-ordinated on social media, slogans were chanted in support of the autonomous city and criticising the Spanish government’s response to the crisis.
Some analysts suggest that Morocco might have authorised migrants to cross the border in order to exert diplomatic pressure on Spain, given that a similar situation occurred in 2021, when some 10,000 migrants crossed the border, taking advantage of a relaxation of border controls in Morocco to put pressure on Spain. Some migrants subsequently confirmed that they had heard about its openness.
Besides, the crisis is being fuelled by some Facebook groups that were discovered in a matter of days and were helping migrants to cross the border.
Groups totalling around 230,000 members were blocked on the platform. These served as a forum for planning sea routes, exchanging telephone numbers, purchasing equipment for crossing the border and coordinating logistics. In some posts, migration to Ceuta was often described as the “liberation” of Spanish enclaves, and the content ranged from propaganda posts to practical advice on purchasing equipment and tools for scaling border fences.
Despite claims that the situation had returned to normal, the crisis in Ceuta has reignited one of the most heated political debates in Europe. On Saturday, 22 leaders of European Union countries criticised Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s migration policy, stating that the current situation constitutes a breach of borders and pointing to Spain’s decision to grant legal status to up to 1.2 million irregular migrants, which is fuelling the crisis.
A joint letter signed by 22 countries and addressed to EU President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa and Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin states:
“We have a duty to effectively deter and relentlessly combat illegal migration, by coordinating our action, strengthening our external borders and addressing all policies that can serve as pull factors, such as the regularisation of a very large number of irregular migrants,” the leaders wrote. “We cannot allow uncontrolled mass crossings, the instrumentalisation of migration or other hybrid threats to create the perception that illegal entry into the European Union is possible. That a migrant’s illegal entry can turn into a legal stay,” they added.
The letter was signed by the leaders of Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden. As a result, the EU announced that it would hold a video conference on Tuesday.
Spain refuted the claim that the country’s programme to regularise the status of migrants had triggered the crisis in Ceuta, and pointed out that none of those who had entered the exclave illegally were entitled to benefit from this measure.
In a letter to von der Leyen, Coste and Martín Sánchez, he sharply criticised his European colleagues, saying they “have chosen to attack Spain and to call for its temporary exclusion from the Schengen Area.” He also added that that calls for Spain to be excluded are “not only contrary to European law, humanitarian law, and the principles of solidarity that bind us together,” but also “Europe’s long-term interests and to the most basic common sense.”
“In the current international context, the European Union cannot afford this kind of selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction,” he went on to say.
Concerns regarding the security of Europe’s borders
In addition to criticism from heads of state, the migration situation in Spain has provoked a strong reaction from conservative groups within the European Union, including Patriots for Europe. The group has called for an urgent session of the European Parliament to address the escalating migration crisis at the EU’s external borders. In an official letter sent on 31 July 2026 to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, the president of Patriots for Europe, Jordan Bardella, referred to Rule 160 of the Rules of Procedure, which allows the President to “convene parliament on an exceptional basis.”
“The recent large-scale illegal crossings into the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla constitute an exceptional situation requiring Parliament’s immediate attention. These events raise fundamental questions concerning the protection of the Union’s external borders, the management of illegal migration, and the security of our citizens. Given the gravity and urgency of the situation, we consider that the conditions for convening Parliament on an exceptional basis are fulfilled. The European Parliament should have the opportunity to hold an urgent debate on the developments in Ceuta and on the failure of the European Union’s migration policies,” reads the letter, published on the official X page of Patriots for Europe.
Bardella notes that the current events raise key questions concerning the protection of the Union’s external borders, the management of illegal migration and the security of European citizens. “The ‘unaccompanied minor migrants’ who illegally crossed the Spanish border at Ceuta will be distributed throughout Spain, and could therefore, tomorrow, find themselves in France, without the French having given their consent,” he wrote on X.
The crisis is causing serious concern amongst analysts that the sitiuation will trigger a chain reaction and lead to the spread of migration flows to other European countries.
In the UK, analysts note that Europe’s single external border is far from secure, as, under the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, the consequences of irregular migration are to be shared amongst all Member States in order to ease the burden on border states. They express concerns that migrants who have reached mainland Spain and are heading north may ultimately join the flow heading for the French coast. As a result, illegal migrants will be able to reach British shores unhindered.
“The UK is outside the EU’s solidarity pool, but not outside the consequences of its weakness. When Europe abandons deterrence at its first frontier, Britain can expect the pressure to arrive at its last. Given our own border control failures, who can really believe that Europe’s nightmare will not also become ours?” said Alan Mendoza in an opinion column for GB News.
