Spain attacks ‘selfish’ response of some EU countries to Ceuta migrant crossings

Spain has condemned the “selfish, polarising and unlawful” reaction of some EU countries to the influx of about 60,000 migrants from Morocco to Ceuta.

Officials say almost all whose who reached the enclave on 30 July have returned, while Spain’s interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said on Saturday that the death toll had risen to 67.

It comes after Italy temporarily suspended the EU’s border-free Schengen arrangement with Spain, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the scenes “shocking”.

Finland and Denmark backed Italy’s move, while Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš urged a temporary suspension of Spain’s Schengen membership.

In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he had “serious concern” about some European governments.

He said the Spanish government had fully restored control over the border and prevented any “unauthorised onward movement towards continental Europe” in less than 48 hours.

While most had showed “support and solidarity”, Sanchez said other European governments had chosen to attack Spain, “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance, or political interest”, and pointed out that Ceuta was not part of the Schengen area.

“The European Union cannot afford this kind of selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction,” he said.

There were chaotic scenes on Thursday in Ceuta as border controls in the North African enclave apparently broke down.

On Saturday morning, Spanish MEP Juan Fernando López Aguilar told the BBC that the situation was “beginning to get under control” and the migrants were “returning peacefully”.

But while the situation on the ground is easing, political and diplomatic fallout is rippling through Madrid and other capitals.

On Thursday, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on social media that such “uncontrolled immigration” was a threat to national security, before suspending the Schengen zone agreement with Spain for a month.

The Schengen Area is a system of open borders spanning 29 European countries that have abolished controls at their common borders.

Spain responded by summoning the Italian ambassador to Madrid, while its foreign minister said he expected “European solidarity and not partisan demagoguery”.

Finland’s Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said she had started preparations for restoring internal border checks “if the need arises”. She also urged “all European countries” to support Meloni’s move.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also urged the EU to “consider all options, including a suspension of Schengen co-operation”.

France has tightened checks on its border with Spain and said it would increase its police presence by Saturday.

Portuguese PM Luis Montenegro said he was considering reinforcing border checks.

Von der Leyen said the images from Ceuta were “unacceptable”. “We cannot allow anyone to come to our Union without abiding by our rules,” she said on social media.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he “supports Spain’s intention not to allow illegal migrants onto the European continent”, and demanded that Morocco “take back illegal migrants immediately”.

In the US, the state department said the incident was a direct result of Spain’s migration policies. President Donald Trump called the situation a “catastrophe” and said “it looks like an invasion of a country by hundreds of thousands of people”.

Spain has defended its handling of the migrant surge. Madrid has sent troops, more police, drones, divers and boats to Ceuta. The country has also deployed its armed forces to bolster security in another Spanish enclave, Melilla, where hundreds of crossings were also reported.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who has visited Ceuta after the migrant influx, said he would consider reinforcing the border with Morocco, and that Moroccan authorities were co-operating.

He blamed trafficking gangs for the migrant surge, calling the incident a “violation of Spain’s territorial integrity”.

“Trafficking mafias took a self-serving interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling” which “spread like wildfire”, he said.

EU Commissioner Magnus Brunner said, after a phone call with Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, that “not a single person has crossed to mainland EU”.

In June, Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla could not be summarily returned to Morocco without due process.

While the surge of migrants this year is extraordinary, Ceuta has long been a focal point for migrants attempting to reach Europe. During the summer months, there is often a big push to reach Ceuta, typically organised over social media.

In 2021, about 8,000 people entered Ceuta over a matter of days, exacerbating Spain’s diplomatic tensions with Morocco.

Morocco, which has been suffering from a high unemployment rate, witnessed several Gen Z anti-government protests last year, with young people demanding better opportunities and improvements to public services.

Together with Melilla, Ceuta forms the European Union’s only land borders with Africa. Migrants can enter the enclave by swimming several kilometres.

Spain has a relatively friendly approach to immigration. In April, the government approved plans to give legal status to 500,000 undocumented migrants, allowing them to be formally integrated into the workforce.

At that time, the right-wing Italian prime minister had already criticised Sánchez, saying the policy would “affect its neighbours”.

In June the European Parliament approved tougher migration rules that grant authorities broader powers to return irregular arrivals.