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Ceutan mayor-president Juan Jesús Vivas says that around 60,000 undocumented migrants have entered the Spanish exclave in North Africa in the last 24 hours, as the death toll rises
Confirmed
In Short: Ceuta's mayor reports around 60,000 undocumented migrants have entered the Spanish exclave in the last 24 hours, following a court ruling that migrants cannot be summarily returned to Morocco.
The Spanish exclave of Ceuta has been overwhelmed by an influx of migrants, with Ceuta's mayor, Juan Jesús Vivas, reporting that around 60,000 undocumented migrants have entered the city in the last 24 hours. This surge comes after Spain's Supreme Court ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla cannot be summarily returned to Morocco.
The situation in Ceuta is dire, with Spanish officials reporting that more than 48,000 people have voluntarily returned to Morocco, and the city's president, Víctor Ortiz Sotomayor, describing it as 'packed with immigrants, in every square and street, mainly looking for food.
The Spanish Interior Ministry estimates that around 50,000 migrants have arrived since the early hours of Thursday, with the majority of them already being sent back to Morocco. The Spanish foreign minister criticized Ceuta's president for making 'improper' remarks about the situation, calling for European solidarity instead of 'partisan demagoguery.
The chaotic conditions in Ceuta have led to the installation of a 1,600-foot containment fence on the aquatic border between Ceuta and Morocco, and the Spanish Civil Guard has reported that thousands of migrants, including unaccompanied children, slept in parks and on sidewalks. The death toll has risen, with some migrants trampled while trying to cross a breakwater fence.
Background
North Africa, also known as Northern Africa, is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- The influx comes after Spain's Supreme Court ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla, another Spanish enclave, cannot be summarily returned to Morocco.
- As of Friday evening, more than 48,000 people had voluntarily returned to Morocco, Spanish officials said.
- Víctor Ortiz Sotomayor told the BBC he had "never seen anything like it", describing the city as "packed with immigrants, in every square and street, mainly looking for food".
- Ceuta's President Juan Jesús Vivas said the arrivals amounted to around 70% of the city's population - which sits at around 83,600 according to the latest local figures.
- Spain's Interior Ministry told the BBC that its estimates were slightly lower, citing 50,000 arrivals since the early hours of Thursday.
- The Spanish foreign minister said such remarks were "improper" for "a partner and friendly country from which we expect European solidarity and not partisan demagoguery".
- Updated on: August 1, 2026 / 10:52 AM EDT / CBS News Spain said Saturday it will install a 1,600-foot containment fence on the aquatic border between the tiny territory of Ceuta and neighboring Morocco after tens of…
- But Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters on Saturday that most of the migrants who arrived in Ceuta have already been sent back to Morocco.