Fifty-seven die reaching Ceuta as Italy suspends Schengen ties with Spain
A 24-hour surge of up to 60,000 people into the Spanish enclave has killed dozens, overwhelmed a city of 85,000, and split the EU over border responsibility.
At least 57 people drowned or were crushed to death while trying to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco in a single day, after as many as 50,000 migrants crossed into the territory in roughly 24 hours. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who flew to Ceuta on Friday morning, called the episode "a violation of Spain's territorial integrity" and pledged to deploy every available resource to secure the city of 85,000 residents.
The interior ministry said more than 48,300 people had voluntarily returned to Morocco by 6pm on Friday. Ceuta's president put the total number of arrivals at around 60,000, higher than Madrid's estimate of 50,000. Rachid Sbihi, who heads a workers' association for the Guardia Civil officers patrolling the border, described a "serious humanitarian crisis," with thousands sleeping in parks and on pavements, including unaccompanied children.
A Schengen rift opens
The political fallout spread fast. Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani blamed the surge on a now-closed Spanish scheme to regularise more than 1 million undocumented migrants, calling it "profoundly wrong." Rome then announced it would unilaterally suspend its Schengen arrangements with Spain, though the practical effect remained unclear. A European Commission spokesperson noted that any member state reintroducing internal border controls must formally notify Brussels and justify the move as a response to a serious threat to public order or national security. As of Friday evening, Italy had not done so.
Sweden's prime minister Ulf Kristersson urged Spain to "act swiftly to regain control," while Finland's interior minister Mari Rantanen said Madrid had "completely failed to protect the Schengen area's external border." European Council president António Costa and French president Emmanuel Macron, by contrast, voiced solidarity. Macron nonetheless ordered four mobile units and drones to reinforce France's own border with Spain as a precaution.
The Commission and EU migration commissioner Magnus Brunner stressed that Ceuta and Melilla operate under special Schengen rules: border checks on anyone departing the enclaves remain in force, meaning there is no onward route into the wider zone. Brunner called the situation "unacceptable."
What triggered the crossing
Sánchez attributed the surge to "human trafficking mafias" that exploited a recent Spanish supreme court ruling barring the summary return of people intercepted at sea near Ceuta and Melilla. He said the ruling "has spread like wildfire during these last few hours through the networks of mafias that traffic in human beings." Madrid plans a temporary reception centre for registration and "expedited" expulsion, plus a line of buoys at Tarajal beach to mark the maritime border clearly.
Morocco's ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, insisted Rabat had "always prioritized legal, orderly and safe migration" and suggested the crossing developed against Morocco's wishes. Moroccan government sources blamed "criminal organisations."
The episode dwarfs the last major Ceuta crossing in May 2021, when roughly 10,000 people entered over two days amid a diplomatic row over Western Sahara. The Irish EU presidency has convened a crisis-response meeting of member states for Saturday, with a further gathering of EU ambassadors in Brussels on Monday.
In Madrid, opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo of the People's Party accused the government of leaving Ceuta "occupied," while the far-right Vox party labelled the event "an invasion." On Friday evening, hundreds gathered outside the Moroccan embassy in an anti-migrant rally where some protesters performed Nazi salutes.
