Juan Jesús Vivas, president of Ceuta, one of Spain's two enclaves in Morocco alongside the city of Melilla, has declared that the city is facing a severe humanitarian emergency. The announcement came after more than 1,500 migrants entered Ceuta by sea over the past week.
Vivas said hundreds of migrants were now sleeping on the city's streets, while facilities housing unaccompanied minors were operating far beyond capacity. He called on the Spanish government to provide assistance, arguing that the situation constituted a national emergency rather than a local one. He also criticized a ruling by the Supreme Court in Madrid barring the immediate return of migrants who reach Ceuta and Melilla by sea.
Spain's Interior Ministry, which oversees the country's borders and monitors illegal immigration, declined to confirm the number of crossings or say how many migrants had reached the territory by swimming. It referred journalists to its twice-monthly migration report, the next edition of which is expected to be published on Aug. 3.
🇪🇸🇲🇦 Thousands of illegal migrants are storming the Spain-Morocco border right now pic.twitter.com/P3Do2PImzc
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 30, 2026
In an interview with Spanish television channel laSexta, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska acknowledged that authorities were dealing with "an extraordinary and exceptional situation." He said they were responding using the resources already permanently deployed in the area.
Spain's Civil Guard, maritime rescue services and even the Red Cross are using boats to intercept and assist migrants before they reach Ceuta. Nevertheless, hundreds are now sleeping outside an overcrowded reception center.
According to activists in Morocco and Ceuta, most of those attempting the journey are Moroccans, along with a smaller number of Algerians who traveled to Morocco and are trying to continue from there into Europe.
