Ceuta migrant surge prompts army demand as Spain rejects emergency call

Ceuta,UPDATED: Jul 30, 2026 20:50 IST

Thousands of migrants entered Spain's North African territory of Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday, leading local officials to ask Madrid to declare a national emergency and deploy the army at the frontier. Spain's interior ministry said it would ensure citizen safety and protect the country's border, but said a national emergency could not be declared over migration concerns.

The latest escalation on the Ceuta-Morocco border follows a recent rise in attempts to reach the small Spanish exclave, mainly by swimming. The scenes recalled the border crisis of May 2021, when more than 8,000 migrants entered Ceuta in just two days.

Video footage showed crowds of people, mostly Moroccans, walking around the breakwaters at Tarajal beach and onto local roads. While most appeared to be young men, families with women and children were also seen. Some shouted, "Viva Espaa!", to a freelance photographer working for The Associated Press.

Spain is one of the main entry points into Europe for migrants seeking better economic opportunities or trying to escape violence in their home countries.

Juan Jess Vivas, the head of Ceuta's regional government, urged the national government to declare a national emergency on national security grounds. He also asked for more police and for the army to be sent to the border. Vivas said the additional police and soldiers would be needed "to guarantee the inviolability of the frontier and citizen safety."

Vivas had said on Wednesday that migrant reception centres were overwhelmed, with hundreds of people sleeping on the streets. The interior ministry said the law governing declarations of national emergencies does not treat migration flows as a risk to national security.

The ministry said government administrations were "coordinating to respond with speed and efficacy to the situation in Ceuta". It also said the Moroccan government was "closely cooperating" with Spain and that Moroccan police were stopping "numerous people" trying to cross the border.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska is due to travel to Ceuta on Friday to assess the situation. The developments underline the pressure on Ceuta's border as Spain deals with a fresh surge in migrant arrivals while local authorities press for stronger support.

With PTI Inputs

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