On Sunday and early Monday, numerous migrants capitalized on a dense fog to swim to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from adjacent Morocco, according to local police reports.
Spain's enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, situated on Morocco's Mediterranean coast, are the sole land borders between the European Union and Africa. These areas occasionally face surges of migrants attempting to enter Europe. A significant number of migrants who arrived in the last 24 hours were intercepted near or on El Tarajal beach, close to the Ceuta-Morocco border, as stated by a Guardia Civil spokesperson.
"There was pressure, and we managed it in collaboration with Morocco," he explained, but refrained from disclosing the exact number of individuals who tried to cross or were returned to Morocco. The spokesperson further noted that the fog had cleared by Monday morning.
Police have been intercepting an average of approximately 700 migrants daily since Thursday, with as many as 1,500 attempting to enter on Sunday night, according to Cristina Perez, the Spanish government's representative in Ceuta. Moroccan nationals caught during these attempts are promptly returned to Morocco unless they are minors or seeking asylum, Perez added. Non-Moroccan nationals are directed to special centers where they receive temporary shelter and are released after a few days.
An unspecified number of individuals have also successfully infiltrated the enclave without being apprehended by the police, according to a spokesperson from Perez's office. Two years prior, at least 23 people perished in a stampede when around 2,000 migrants attempted to force their way into Melilla by breaching the border fence.
