Spain says Ceuta migrant crisis under control as over 48,000 return

Spain said Friday that it had brought a massive influx of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta under control, with the vast majority of those who crossed the border in recent days voluntarily returning to Morocco.

Spain's Interior Ministry said around 50,000 people had crossed into Ceuta by land and sea since Thursday morning, estimating that 48,300 had returned by 6 p.m. local time on Friday. Juan Jesús Vivas, president of Ceuta's regional government, said the number of people involved could have reached 60,000 over the past two days.

The Spanish government's representative in Ceuta said 57 bodies had been recovered on the Spanish side of the border, while additional casualties could be found on the Moroccan side. Some migrants drowned, while others were crushed during attempts to climb the breakwater surrounding the border fence, officials said.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez traveled to Ceuta on Friday, describing the mass crossing as a "violation of Spain's territorial sovereignty." He said authorities were accelerating the return of people who had entered illegally, with full cooperation from Morocco.

The unprecedented border surge has triggered tensions across Europe, with several EU member states calling on Spain to contain the situation and strengthen migration controls.

Italy announced it would suspend the European Union's border-free Schengen arrangements with Spain, a move that would affect people traveling by air or sea between the two countries. Madrid criticized the decision, saying it violated EU treaties.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said on Friday that the Schengen area's border-free rules should immediately be suspended for Spain in response to what he described as a major illegal migration crisis in Ceuta.

Portugal, however, said it would not suspend Schengen free movement rules with Spain, though Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said the country would strengthen border controls along its southern maritime and land borders.

Under normal circumstances, EU countries are not allowed to carry out checks at internal borders within the Schengen area, but temporary controls can be introduced under exceptional conditions.

France said it would increase security measures along its border with Spain. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said police deployments would be increased fivefold by Saturday, while aerial surveillance and train patrols would also be reinforced. 

Germany also announced tougher migration controls. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Germany would extend border checks with neighboring countries beyond September in response to the influx in Ceuta. Germany has maintained checks at all land borders since September 2024, with the measures repeatedly extended.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Spain to quickly stabilize the situation in Ceuta, prevent irregular migrants from entering mainland Europe and called on Morocco to promptly accept those being returned. He also stressed that EU rules on deportations should be fully implemented without delay.

Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish autonomous cities located on Morocco's northern coast, are the European Union's only land borders with Africa. Both have experienced repeated attempts by migrants seeking entry into Europe, but the scale of the latest surge was described as unprecedented.

The influx was triggered in part by a recent ruling by Spain's Supreme Court that restricted the use of so-called "hot returns" for migrants intercepted at sea – stripping authorities of the power to immediately send sea-borne irregular migrants back to Morocco without full individual legal procedures.

Supporters of the ruling argue that the former policy of "hot returns" lacked proper legal safeguards and risked collective expulsion, violating human rights, while right-wing voices warn that the new legal precedent effectively creates an open border loophole, incentivizing migrant smuggling and overwhelming Ceuta's limited reception capacity.