Migrants storm EU border: Moment hundreds charge up beaches and force their way into Spanish enclave as it declares 'total emergency'

By IMOGEN GARFINKEL - SENIOR FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER and ELIANA SILVER, SENIOR FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER and PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER

Published: 13:44 BST, 30 July 2026 | Updated: 14:16 BST, 31 July 2026

Furious Spaniards have been forced to chase migrants down the streets of their home after thousands of migrants flooded the enclave this afternoon.

Extraordinary footage showed huge numbers of people sprinting up beaches, swimming ashore and dispersing into the streets of the tiny Spanish territory of Ceuta, which borders Morocco, with some shouting 'Long live Spain '.

Crowds, which officials estimated to have been made up of 20,000 people, were seen swimming out to bypass a long border fence that juts out into the Mediterranean on the Moroccan side, before swimming back on the Spanish side.

Upon their arrival, the migrants, largely made up of people from Morocco and Algeria, went into the city of around 84,000.

In response, enraged Spanish citizens took to the streets to push them back. Many were seen waving Spanish flags and screaming at them.

As a group of migrants were seen running away, a loud police siren was heard in the background.

The president of the territory, Juan Jesus Vivas, has declared a 'total humanitarian and social emergency', with at least 60 migrants washing up dead in the last few months and camps completely overwhelmed. Spain's government said that nine people died today while trying to reach Ceuta.

Officials in Ceuta begged the national government in Madrid to declare a national emergency, which was rebuffed.

Enraged Spanish citizens took to the streets to push migrants back. Many were seen waving flags and screaming

As a group of people were seen running away, a loud police siren was heard in the background

People reach Spanish territory after swimming from Morocco to Ceuta

Central government officials claimed that migration crises were not a good enough reason to call a national emergency, but promised additional resources after police unions decried the lack of personnel and equipment in Ceuta.

Madrid announced today that it would be sending troops to the enclave. Though it did not specify how many soldiers would be sent to the territory, it said the Civil Guard's strength there would be nearly doubled from the current level of 80. It will also send diving teams and coastguard ships.

If official estimates of the number of people who illegally entered are confirmed, the migratory incident will be the largest irregular entry of people into Spain in its history.

It comes after the country's socialist government approved plans to give around 500,000 undocumented migrants legal status earlier this year.

'In the past few days more than 1,500 migrants, both adults and minors, have come to Ceuta by sea,' said Vivas in televised comments earlier on Wednesday.

'The reception centres are saturated - there is no more room for anyone in them and according to yesterday's figures the number of people entering is more than 200 a day.'

According to EFE, hundreds of youths ​could be seen scaling the security fencing, ⁠which was not being guarded by police ​at the time, and entered Ceuta, while members ​of the Moroccan auxiliary force responsible for security on the ground withdrew as the young people passed.

Spain's interior ministry said in a statement that several ministries were 'acting in coordination to respond with the utmost speed and efficiency to the situation in Ceuta'.

Several of the country's largest police unions blasted the government for not giving local cops enough resources to deal with the influx.

Jupol, which represents the National Police in Spain, said: 'The National Police officers stationed in Ceuta continue to work at the limit of their capabilities, with a clear lack of personnel and material resources to cope with a situation of this magnitude.'

Migrants from Morocco react as they crossed into Ceuta by sea, at the border between the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and Morocco, as seen from Ceuta, Spain, July 30, 2026

Spanish military stands guard at the border between the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and Morocco, after thousands of migrants crossed into Ceuta by sea, as seen from Ceuta, Spain, July 30, 2026

Migrants reach Spanish territory after swimming from Morocco to Ceuta

Jucil, which represents members of Spain's Civil Guard, meanwhile denounced 'the lack of personnel and resources', adding: 'Why haven't more human and material resources been deployed?'

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska would travel to Ceuta on Friday 'to monitor the situation' and meet officials, it said.

The ministry said the government had increased its resources 'to guarantee security and control of migration as well as the necessary humanitarian aid, so that no lives are put in danger at sea'.

It said the Moroccan government was working 'faithfully and permanently with Spain and collaborating closely to deal with the situation'.

The ministry added: 'Moroccan security forces are preventing the arrival of numerous people who are trying to reach Ceuta from Morocco.'

But many in the country accused Morocco of being behind the influx of migrants.

Jupol, the police union, said: 'Morocco has seized an opportunity within its hybrid warfare strategy, once again using migratory pressure on Ceuta as a tool for political blackmail.'

Santiago Abascal, the leader of the hard-right Vox party, said in a post to X: 'They're not coming fleeing from any war or poverty. It's an invasion. They are men of military age called by Pedro Sánchez's corrupt government to storm our borders.

He added: 'For every rape, every stabbing, and every slash to the pockets of Spaniards to keep them afloat... there is a direct culprit: the mafia boss desperately calling in more hitmen to stay in power.'

Spanish president Pedro Sanchez added on X that Spain is 'fully committed to providing an immediate response to the situation in Ceuta.'

'This is the moment to build solutions, with responsibility and cooperation,' he said.

Vivas said facilities for unaccompanied minors were operating at 2,400 per cent of capacity.

In comments to Onda Cero, he described the situation as a national emergency and called for a 'decisive, forceful, immediate and coordinated' response under a single command structure.

Should Spain take tougher action to protect its borders, or focus on helping desperate migrants?