European leaders outraged after 50,000 migrants cross into Spain’s Ceuta

Migrants sit on rocks after swimming through the waters close to Ceuta's border with Morocco. Photo by JORGE GUERRERO /AFP

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The sudden arrival of a massive group of migrants at a Spanish exclave in North Africa triggered a fresh wave of political attacks against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on both sides of the Atlantic, as voices from the right in Spain, Germany, Italy and France, with the White House joining in, lashed out against Europe’s leading liberal in office.

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Spanish officials said nearly 50,000 migrants rushed the Spanish territory over the past 24 hours, swimming or climbing over fences into the small outpost with a population of 83,000, 11 miles from the Spanish mainland and accessible via an hour-long ferry. At least 41 people died in the mad dash to Ceuta, Spanish authorities said.

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A migrant gestures on the beach around the border barrier with Morocco to enter Spain’s north Africa’s Ceuta enclave on July 31, 2026. Photo by JORGE GUERRERO /AFP via Getty Images

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As images of the crush spread quickly via social media, Spain responded, ordering a military deployment on Thursday to restore order. On Friday, Spain reinforced security and border fences, with Morocco deploying water cannons to push migrants back.

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The sudden spike in arrivals sparked outrage across the European political spectrum. Before a more gradual uptick in recent days, only 2,698 migrants had arrived in Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish exclave, via land during the first six months of the year, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry.

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It raised speculation of a repeat of 2021, when tensions between Spain and Morocco led to the Moroccans dropping border controls, allowing 8,000 migrants into Ceuta in two days.

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Spain’s Guardia Civil officers contol as migrants try to swim through the waters close to the border with Morocco to enter Spain’s north Africa’s Ceuta enclave on July 31, 2026. Photo by JORGE GUERRERO /AFP via Getty Images

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Citing Foreign Ministry sources, Spanish media outlets reported that Spanish authorities were discounting that theory, and Sánchez publicly blamed human traffickers responding to a recent Supreme Court decision that migrants arriving by sea to Ceuta or Melilla cannot be summarily returned without due process.

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Morocco’s ambassador in Spain, Karima Benyaich, said in public remarks that the migration had unfolded “outside of our will” and that Morocco “wants these citizens to return to our country,” according to media reports.

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Speaking Friday from Ceuta, Sánchez sought to defend the government’s response, including additional deployments of police and civil guards. He said authorities would place buoys in the breakwaters to act as a “containment barrier.”

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He decried the rush of migrants as a “violation” of Spanish territory, saying some of them were already returning voluntarily and more would be repatriated.

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A Spanish soldier stands on the beach as he controls the border with Morocco after migrants crossed the border to enter Spain’s north Africa’s Ceuta enclave on July 31, 2026. Photo by JORGE GUERRERO /AFP via Getty Images

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“This situation is unprecedented,” he said. “It breaks the trend that we have been recording throughout Spain of a systematic reduction year after year, month by month, in the arrivals of irregular migrants.”

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In the United States, a spectrum of right-wing voices from MAGA influencers to the White House latched on to the viral images.

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“President [Donald] Trump has long warned Europe what would happen if they continue to implement far-left, globalist policies, including enabling mass migration,” deputy White House press secretary Anna Kelly told Fox News. “Spain and other countries who have adopted this destructive philosophy should immediately reverse course or risk their own demise.”