Migrant crisis in Ceuta, with thousands arriving by swimming. Palazzo Chigi is considering suspending the Schengen Agreement; Spain protests

The Moroccan security forces did not even attempt to stop the flood of people who, within a matter of hours – first by sea, then crossing the border by land – reached Ceuta, the gateway from Africa to Europe.
The situation suddenly spiralled out of control, with thousands of people pouring into the Spanish enclave in broad daylight, rushing towards the double border barrier. The crisis is reminiscent of that experienced in May 2021, when at least 8,000 North Africans entered the Spanish autonomous city in Morocco. Madrid is now prepared to mobilise the army to deal with the situation.

Whilst Brussels is monitoring the development of the crisis and assuring its full commitment to protecting the EU’s borders, sources at Palazzo Chigi in Rome have indicated that the government is considering suspending the Schengen Agreement with Spain. The first to sound the alarm was the president of the enclave, Juan Jesus Vivas, who highlighted the migratory pressure over the past week, with 1,500–2,000 people arriving by swimming, at a rate of 300 a day. “We are facing an absolute humanitarian and social emergency,” reiterated the governor, who called on Madrid to declare a national state of emergency, establish a single command centre and reinforce the security forces by deploying the army to defend “public safety”.

The Ceuta Assembly has unanimously approved a motion calling for the temporary closure of the border with Morocco as an “urgent and imperative” measure in response to what has been described as “the most serious crisis in recent years”. Behind this new wave of migration lie poverty, a lack of prospects and expectations fuelled by social media, alongside the window of opportunity presented by good weather and calm seas, just a stone’s throw from the Strait of Gibraltar. But that is not all. “They can’t find legal routes. Their only option is to throw themselves into the sea and enter Ceuta,” says Ismail El Makdoubi, a migrant and president of the Exmenas association. According to the activist, the recent ruling by the Spanish Supreme Court – which rules out immediate pushbacks for those who reach the enclave by swimming – has, together with people-smuggling networks and online buzz, fuelled the belief that crossing the border is now easier. “We feel abandoned, without protection. Thousands of migrants are on the streets, wandering without knowing where to go,” say the residents of Ceuta, describing the scale the crisis is now reaching, with numerous people missing at sea and the Civil Guard having recovered at least nine bodies of people who drowned.

The Spanish authorities have not provided any official estimates of the number of migrants who have entered. “The human tide has already reached 5 kilometres at the border,” according to the TVE correspondent. The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, will be in Ceuta tomorrow, together with the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to assess the situation on the ground. This has been reported by sources at Moncloa.

“This message from the Foreign Minister of a friendly country and partner from whom we expect European solidarity rather than party political demagoguery is disgraceful.” The Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, wrote this on X in response to a post by Antonio Tajani, in which the Deputy Prime Minister expressed his support for closing the Schengen area to Spain following the migration crisis in Ceuta. Albares announced that he had summoned the Italian ambassador to Spain in protest.