EU to hold urgent meeting of interior ministers on Tuesday over Ceuta crisis
The EU is to hold an urgent meeting of interior ministers on Tuesday amid continued divisions in the bloc over the arrival of more than 50,000 migrants in the Spanish territory of Ceuta in north Africa.
The decision was taken by officials representing EU member states and Frontex border agency experts at what was described as a “sobering” meeting on Saturday.
Spain confirmed at least 67 people had died in the attempted crossing. Some drowned, while others were crushed as they tried to cross a breakwater barrier.
The decision to call a summit of ministers was unanimous as EU leaders seek to heal divisions in the bloc and restore a unified approach to migration.
Spain said migrant crossings into Ceuta had stopped overnight, as police began installing a 500-metre (1,640ft) floating barrier off its border with Morocco.
Andy Burnham, the British prime minister, said on Saturday: “I have been in touch with the Spanish prime minister and [we are] providing what help we can.”
Italy and Denmark, with some support from Poland and Sweden, used the meeting on Saturday to criticise Spain for what had happened.
In a furious letter on Saturday, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez hit out against “fake news” and “disinformation”, pointing out that “virtually all” migrants had been returned to Morocco after the army intervened on Friday, “preventing any unauthorised onward movement towards continental Europe”.
It is understood suspected Russian attempts to spread disinformation to sow dissent within the EU was also discussed at the meeting on Saturday.
There is frustration in Spain that previous incidents of this scale, where migrants massed on the border of Poland, were labelled as a “hybrid attack” from Belarus, and were met with solidarity for Poland.
Although more than 48,000 people had voluntarily returned to Morocco by 6pm on Friday, the influx triggered a political crisis for the Madrid government and led some fellow EU countries to call for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen free-movement zone.
Juan Jesús Vivas, the president of Ceuta, said that while many people had returned to Morocco, not all those who had crossed into the city had left.
“We’re not back to normal because there are several thousand people who need to be returned, and there is still an atmosphere marked by unease and concern,” he said. He also called for “all the security measures deployed” in Ceuta to remain in place to guarantee the safety of the population.
Sánchez asked for the meeting after what appeared to be a breakdown of EU unity on external border policy, with Italy attacking Spain.
Italy announced on Friday evening that it would suspend its Schengen arrangements with Spain for a month, even though Ceuta – and Spain’s other north African territory, Melilla – are subject to special Schengen rules that prevent onward movement within the zone.
Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, blamed the situation in Ceuta on the Sánchez government’s decision to offer a now-closed scheme to regularise the status of more than 1 million undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. He said the programme had incentivised human trafficking and was “profoundly wrong”.
Sánchez was forthright in a letter sent to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Council president, António Costa, and Micheál Martin, the prime minister of Ireland, which holds the EU presidency.
Sánchez said that while most EU countries had expressed support and solidarity over events in Ceuta, others had chosen to attack Spain.
“Such an attitude – driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political interest – is … contrary to European law, humanitarian law and the principles of solidarity that bind us together,” he said.
In a pointed rebuke to Italy, he noted that Spain was “according to Frontex, one of the least porous external borders of the European Union, with a number of irregular entries that is half that recorded, for example, in Italy in recent years (2021–26)”.
Senior EU officials met on Saturday in a “political crisis response team” convened by Ireland’s presidency.
Ireland’s prime minister, Micheál Martin, said on Saturday that, as the holders of the EU presidency, “Ireland will convene a meeting on Tuesday of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, chaired by Jim O’Callaghan [justice minister], to discuss developments in Ceuta.
“We remain in close contact with all member states and the institutions and continue to monitor the situation,” he said in a social media post.
O’Callaghan, who is leading the meetings on behalf of the EU, said he had been in touch with Spain’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to express his solidarity and support.
In remarks that appeared to respond to Sánchez’s criticisms, von der Leyen said she welcomed his suggestion of a video conference “to take stock of what has happened”, adding: “Fighting illegal migration requires solidarity and a united European response.”
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France’s interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said his country would not be seeking Spain’s suspension from Schengen rules.
“It’s absolutely not on the table,” he said on Saturday. “We have great cooperation with Spain.”
Many of the remaining people who crossed into Ceuta returned to Morocco on Saturday morning amid a reinforced Spanish police and military presence.
“We hope to go to Europe to work and earn a living – that’s it,” Souleil Boyan, a 19-year-old from Senegal, told Agence France-Presse outside a migrant centre in Ceuta where dozens of other people from sub-Saharan Africa were waiting for officials.
“We all know that in Africa there isn’t much opportunity,” he added.
The Spanish government said in a statement on Saturday that the situation in Ceuta remained calm and quiet.
It said containment barriers were being installed at the Tarajal beach breakwater, including a 500-metre-long inflatable barrier and a line of anchored buoys.
This week’s mass crossing dwarfs the last similar event in May 2021, when Morocco loosened its border controls, allowing about 10,000 people to enter the territory over two days.
That crossing came amid heightened tensions between Madrid and Rabat over Spain’s decision to allow the leader of the Western Sahara independence movement, the Polisario Front, to be treated for Covid-19 in Spain. Morocco and the Polisario Front both lay claim to Western Sahara, which was under Spanish rule until 1975, when colonial authorities handed the territory to Morocco and Mauritania.
That diplomatic crisis ended in 2022 when Madrid reversed its longstanding policy of neutrality and backed Morocco’s plan for Western Sahara, a move that caused a rift between Spain and Algeria, which had supported the Polisario group.
Sánchez visited Algiers on 20 July – the first visit by a Spanish head of government in four years – marking a thaw in relations with Algeria.
The Spanish government has attributed the latest influx to “human-trafficking mafias” that have taken advantage of a decision by Spain’s supreme court, which recently ruled that those intercepted at sea while trying to enter Ceuta or Melilla could not be summarily returned under special rules.
But some migration experts have expressed doubts about that explanation. Mauricio Valiente, the director general of the Spanish Refugee Aid Commission, said the route into Ceuta was very different from the Atlantic route from Africa to the Canary Islands, which is often operated by people smugglers.
“Unlike what happens in the Canary Islands, these aren’t people who have to get into a small boat,” he told elDiario.es. “This is a matter of being just metres from a land border, jumping into the sea and trying to get around a breakwater, which makes it much easier to do, even with all the risks.”
Valiente said there had been a steady increase in arrivals to Ceuta this year, even before the supreme court ruling.
“The causes are complex, and there are surely many reasons,” he said. “But to simplify it by referencing the court ruling or organised crime – to say there’s a direct cause-and-effect relationship – is completely unfounded.”
Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, visited Ceuta on Saturday and said he had spoken to migrants there.
“I have spoken to a number of them who made it quite clear they intend to make it to Britain,” he said.
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
More than 50,000 migrants reached the Spanish territory of Ceuta in north Africa following a breakdown in Morocco's border controls. At least 67 people died during the crossing attempt. Spain's government, supported by Frontex and EU officials, responded by reinforcing barriers, deploying security forces, and facilitating returns to Morocco. By Saturday, approximately 48,000 people had voluntarily returned. EU member states convened on Saturday in response to the incident. Some countries, notably Italy and Denmark, criticized Spain's handling and previous migration policies. Spain's government disputed these criticisms, noting it maintains one of the EU's more secure external borders and pointing to alleged disinformation. The EU will hold a formal ministerial meeting on Tuesday to discuss unified migration policy. France and others indicated they do not support suspending Spain from Schengen arrangements. The incident echoes a similar 2021 crossing of roughly 10,000 people and reflects ongoing tensions in EU migration governance.
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
The EU is to hold an urgent meeting of interior ministers on Tuesday amid continued divisions in the bloc over the arrival of more than 50,000 migrants in the Spanish territory of Ceuta in north Africa.
The decision was taken by officials representing EU member states and Frontex border agency experts at what was described as a “sobering” meeting on Saturday.
Spain confirmed at least 67 people had died in the attempted crossing. Some drowned, while others were crushed as they tried to cross a breakwater barrier.
The decision to call a summit of ministers was unanimous as EU leaders seek to heal divisions in the bloc and restore a unified approach to migration.
Spain said migrant crossings into Ceuta had stopped overnight, as police began installing a 500-metre (1,640ft) floating barrier off its border with Morocco.
Andy Burnham, the British prime minister, said on Saturday: “I have been in touch with the Spanish prime minister and [we are] providing what help we can.”
Italy and Denmark, with some support from Poland and Sweden, used the meeting on Saturday to criticise Spain for what had happened.
In a furious letter on Saturday, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez hit out against “fake news” and “disinformation”, pointing out that “virtually all” migrants had been returned to Morocco after the army intervened on Friday, “preventing any unauthorised onward movement towards continental Europe”.
It is understood suspected Russian attempts to spread disinformation to sow dissent within the EU was also discussed at the meeting on Saturday.
There is frustration in Spain that previous incidents of this scale, where migrants massed on the border of Poland, were labelled as a “hybrid attack” from Belarus, and were met with solidarity for Poland.
Although more than 48,000 people had voluntarily returned to Morocco by 6pm on Friday, the influx triggered a political crisis for the Madrid government and led some fellow EU countries to call for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen free-movement zone.
Juan Jesús Vivas, the president of Ceuta, said that while many people had returned to Morocco, not all those who had crossed into the city had left.
“We’re not back to normal because there are several thousand people who need to be returned, and there is still an atmosphere marked by unease and concern,” he said. He also called for “all the security measures deployed” in Ceuta to remain in place to guarantee the safety of the population.
Sánchez asked for the meeting after what appeared to be a breakdown of EU unity on external border policy, with Italy attacking Spain.
Italy announced on Friday evening that it would suspend its Schengen arrangements with Spain for a month, even though Ceuta – and Spain’s other north African territory, Melilla – are subject to special Schengen rules that prevent onward movement within the zone.
Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, blamed the situation in Ceuta on the Sánchez government’s decision to offer a now-closed scheme to regularise the status of more than 1 million undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. He said the programme had incentivised human trafficking and was “profoundly wrong”.
Sánchez was forthright in a letter sent to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Council president, António Costa, and Micheál Martin, the prime minister of Ireland, which holds the EU presidency.
Sánchez said that while most EU countries had expressed support and solidarity over events in Ceuta, others had chosen to attack Spain.
“Such an attitude – driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political interest – is … contrary to European law, humanitarian law and the principles of solidarity that bind us together,” he said.
In a pointed rebuke to Italy, he noted that Spain was “according to Frontex, one of the least porous external borders of the European Union, with a number of irregular entries that is half that recorded, for example, in Italy in recent years (2021–26)”.
Senior EU officials met on Saturday in a “political crisis response team” convened by Ireland’s presidency.
Ireland’s prime minister, Micheál Martin, said on Saturday that, as the holders of the EU presidency, “Ireland will convene a meeting on Tuesday of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, chaired by Jim O’Callaghan [justice minister], to discuss developments in Ceuta.
“We remain in close contact with all member states and the institutions and continue to monitor the situation,” he said in a social media post.
O’Callaghan, who is leading the meetings on behalf of the EU, said he had been in touch with Spain’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to express his solidarity and support.
In remarks that appeared to respond to Sánchez’s criticisms, von der Leyen said she welcomed his suggestion of a video conference “to take stock of what has happened”, adding: “Fighting illegal migration requires solidarity and a united European response.”
after newsletter promotion
France’s interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said his country would not be seeking Spain’s suspension from Schengen rules.
“It’s absolutely not on the table,” he said on Saturday. “We have great cooperation with Spain.”
Many of the remaining people who crossed into Ceuta returned to Morocco on Saturday morning amid a reinforced Spanish police and military presence.
“We hope to go to Europe to work and earn a living – that’s it,” Souleil Boyan, a 19-year-old from Senegal, told Agence France-Presse outside a migrant centre in Ceuta where dozens of other people from sub-Saharan Africa were waiting for officials.
“We all know that in Africa there isn’t much opportunity,” he added.
The Spanish government said in a statement on Saturday that the situation in Ceuta remained calm and quiet.
It said containment barriers were being installed at the Tarajal beach breakwater, including a 500-metre-long inflatable barrier and a line of anchored buoys.
This week’s mass crossing dwarfs the last similar event in May 2021, when Morocco loosened its border controls, allowing about 10,000 people to enter the territory over two days.
That crossing came amid heightened tensions between Madrid and Rabat over Spain’s decision to allow the leader of the Western Sahara independence movement, the Polisario Front, to be treated for Covid-19 in Spain. Morocco and the Polisario Front both lay claim to Western Sahara, which was under Spanish rule until 1975, when colonial authorities handed the territory to Morocco and Mauritania.
That diplomatic crisis ended in 2022 when Madrid reversed its longstanding policy of neutrality and backed Morocco’s plan for Western Sahara, a move that caused a rift between Spain and Algeria, which had supported the Polisario group.
Sánchez visited Algiers on 20 July – the first visit by a Spanish head of government in four years – marking a thaw in relations with Algeria.
The Spanish government has attributed the latest influx to “human-trafficking mafias” that have taken advantage of a decision by Spain’s supreme court, which recently ruled that those intercepted at sea while trying to enter Ceuta or Melilla could not be summarily returned under special rules.
But some migration experts have expressed doubts about that explanation. Mauricio Valiente, the director general of the Spanish Refugee Aid Commission, said the route into Ceuta was very different from the Atlantic route from Africa to the Canary Islands, which is often operated by people smugglers.
“Unlike what happens in the Canary Islands, these aren’t people who have to get into a small boat,” he told elDiario.es. “This is a matter of being just metres from a land border, jumping into the sea and trying to get around a breakwater, which makes it much easier to do, even with all the risks.”
Valiente said there had been a steady increase in arrivals to Ceuta this year, even before the supreme court ruling.
“The causes are complex, and there are surely many reasons,” he said. “But to simplify it by referencing the court ruling or organised crime – to say there’s a direct cause-and-effect relationship – is completely unfounded.”
Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, visited Ceuta on Saturday and said he had spoken to migrants there.
“I have spoken to a number of them who made it quite clear they intend to make it to Britain,” he said.
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
The EU is holding an urgent meeting of interior ministers on Tuesday to address divisions over the arrival of more than 50,000 migrants in Spanish territory Ceuta. At least 67 people died during attempted crossings; some drowned while others were crushed at a breakwater barrier. Spain confirmed that migrant crossings into Ceuta had stopped overnight as police installed a 500-metre floating barrier at the border with Morocco. By 6pm Friday, more than 48,000 people had voluntarily returned to Morocco after Spanish army intervention. Italy announced it would suspend Schengen arrangements with Spain for a month and criticized Spain's previous regularisation scheme for undocumented migrants. Spain's prime minister Pedro Sánchez characterized criticism from other EU states as driven by 'fake news' and 'disinformation' and noted Spain has one of the least porous external borders in the EU. Italy's foreign minister blamed Spain's regularisation programme for 1 million undocumented migrants, saying it incentivised human trafficking and was 'profoundly wrong.' France's interior minister said Spain's suspension from Schengen was 'absolutely not on the table' and emphasized strong cooperation with Spain. Spanish government attributed the influx to 'human-trafficking mafias' exploiting a recent court ruling. Migration expert Mauricio Valiente expressed doubt about the smuggling explanation, noting that land-based border crossings differ fundamentally from sea routes and that arrivals had been increasing throughout the year before the court ruling. EU officials discussed suspected Russian attempts to spread disinformation to sow dissent within the bloc. The 2021 mass crossing to Ceuta involved roughly 10,000 people and followed tensions between Spain and Morocco over Western Sahara policy.
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
- EU interior ministers will meet Tuesday to address the arrival of 50,000+ migrants in Spain's Ceuta territory, following a mass crossing that resulted in at least 67 deaths.
- Spain has reinforced border security with floating barriers and returned most migrants to Morocco, but divisions within the EU over responsibility and migration policy have emerged.
- Italy and some other EU members have criticized Spain's approach, while other countries including France have expressed solidarity; discussion also touched on suspected Russian disinformation attempts.