Death Toll from Ceuta Migrant Crisis Rises to 72, EU Alarmed

Ceuta Migrant Rush Leaves 72 Dead, Sparks EU and Spanish Response

Mass Migration Crisis at Spain’s Ceuta Enclave

By Leonardo Benassatto

CEUTA, Spain, Aug 2 (Reuters) – The death toll from Thursday’s mass rush into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco reached at least 72 on Sunday as five more bodies were found along Ceuta’s coast, officials said.

More than 50,000 people crossed into Ceuta by land and sea in an unprecedented surge that began on Thursday at one of the European Union’s only two land borders with Africa, prompting alarm across the bloc. More than 48,000 returned to Morocco within 48 hours and more again over the weekend, Spanish authorities said.

Impact on Ceuta and Humanitarian Response

The Spanish government representative in Ceuta, Miguel Angel Perez, told reporters on Sunday that, in addition to the 72 fatalities, more than 1,000 people had been treated by health services since Thursday. The situation in the city had improved markedly, he said, but more remained to be done to re-establish normality.

Causes and Dangers of the Migration Surge

Some migrants drowned and others were crushed while trying to climb a breakwater and border fence. Many had been driven to migrate by economic hardship and encouraged by social media rumours.

Personal Stories and Local Reactions

SPANISH BORDER PATROLS REINFORCED IN CEUTA

“It pains me deeply that young people are dying at sea. It’s not right that, in the year 2026, women with children as young as two months old should be crossing the sea only to die,” said Karima Abenaz, a French national in Ceuta with family in Morocco, holding back tears.

“In Morocco, there’s food, there’s everything we need,” she added. “If we don’t have a decent job, we should go on strike and demand our rights from the government. We shouldn’t be dying at sea, it’s not right.”

Official Response and Security Measures

Ceuta leader Juan Jesus Vivas told the newspaper El Pais the city’s morgue had received 88 corpses, including some who had died in earlier, smaller attempts to reach the territory in hazardous night-time swims over the past two weeks. He said Moroccan authorities were also recovering bodies from the sea, but no official information was available.

Authorities have reinforced police and army patrols and on Saturday installed a 500-metre (1,600-foot) floating barrier off Ceuta.

European Union and Spanish Government Actions

EU Calls for Coordinated Border Protection

 Twenty-two EU member states wrote a letter asking for coordinated action to protect external borders and other measures after the Ceuta incident. Italy suspended passport-free Schengen travel arrangements with Spain for one month.

Spain’s Migration Policy and Its Implications

Spain has adopted a more open stance on migrants than most other EU countries, introducing a programme to grant residency to more than half a million undocumented people.

It has rejected suggestions that the scheme encouraged the rush into Ceuta, saying that those who entered Ceuta irregularly could not travel on to mainland Spain or elsewhere in the Schengen zone.

(Reporting by David Latona; writing by Andrei Khalip and Kevin Liffey)