Spain has returned nearly 48,500 people to Moroccan territory following the massive irregular entry of migrants into the autonomous city of Ceuta, as authorities deploy the armed forces and border operations accelerate.
The Spanish and Moroccan governments reached an agreement on Thursday to expedite the return of migrants who entered recently.
The Spanish Ministry of the Interior confirmed the accelerated return operation through the Tarajal breakwater at a rate of 150 people per minute, applying the coordinated return agreements between Madrid and Rabat to contain a contingency that reached at least 57 lives.
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The mass return operation is being executed while commercial and labor activities in the city of 83,000 inhabitants remain paralyzed, after nearly 50,000 people entered Ceuta irregularly since Thursday.
Army troops, the National Police and the Civil Guard secure the streets and intensify maritime patrols for the recovery of bodies along the coasts.
Analysts affirmed that mass mobilization was driven by the viral spread of social media messages within Morocco, which falsely claimed that territorial boundaries remained open and without access restrictions. However, local Moroccan media pointed out that the spontaneous crossing is difficult to sustain in the midst of the Throne Day festivities and pointed to the articulation of digital platforms to generate an unprecedented flow of young people and minors from the locality of Castillejos.
Following this, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares criticized the Italian government’s comments on the events, summoning the ambassador in Madrid and rejecting Rome’s announcement of border controls on non-European travelers arriving from Spain until August 31. “Practically all of those who entered Ceuta have already returned to Morocco. It is not possible to travel from Ceuta and Melilla to the peninsula without identifying yourself at a police checkpoint. The integrity of the Schengen area is absolutely guaranteed. Enough of interested confusion,” Albares wrote on X.
Almost everyone who entered Ceuta yesterday has now returned to Morocco.
It is not possible to travel from Ceuta or Melilla to mainland Spain without presenting identification at a police checkpoint. The integrity of the Schengen area is fully guaranteed. https://t.co/F2s3JWN4bF
— Embassy of Spain UK (@EmbSpainUK) July 31, 2026
During the hours of greatest tension, the Moroccan police intervened with tear gas and water cannons in the vicinity of Castillejos and the Tarajal crossing to repress hundreds of young people and families gathered with the intention of crossing.
The crisis has reignited tensions over the status of the two Spanish enclaves on African soil and put the spotlight on the migration policies that govern the western Mediterranean route.
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The enclave remains under military reinforcement while the accelerated return operation continues through the Tarajal breakwater, as Morocco and Spain seek to contain one of the most serious border crises in the western Mediterranean in recent years. Humanitarian organizations warn that the toll could rise, while families of the missing demand information about those who attempted the maritime crossing and never reached the Spanish shore.
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