Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- Ceuta returning to normal but work remains, local official says
- Madrid says 72 people died in the border rush
- Right-wing leaders call for migrant expulsions, security reinforcement
- Italy’s one-month suspension of the free-movement Schengen deal takes effect
- Spain’s PM Sanchez calls for an urgent teleconference of EU interior ministers
- DW correspondent says thousands of migrants still in Ceuta
- Germany’s Merz calls on Morocco to take back the irregular migrants ‘without delay’
Follow this blog for continuing coverage and updates on the developing situation in Ceuta, Spain’s North African territory.
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Skip next section Most migrants return but Ceuta still on edge as death toll climbs to 7208/02/2026August 2, 2026
Most migrants return but Ceuta still on edge as death toll climbs to 72
Karl Sexton | Jenipher Camino Gonzalez Editor
Relative calm had returned to Ceuta on Sunday, but the city remained on edge following the deadly border rush.
Local officials have warned that the city’s recovery has just begun, while right-wing politicians are blaming the Socialist government in Madrid for chaotic scenes that unfolded this week in the Spanish North African exclave.
Spanish Civil Guard ships were searching the waters around the city on Sunday for more bodies after between 50,000 and 60,000 migrants breached the border with Morocco.
Nearly all of them had walked back to the Moroccan side of the border by Sunday, according to officials in Ceuta, normally home to around 84,000 people.
At least 72 people died during the crush on Thursday and Friday, the Spanish government representative in Ceuta, Miguel Angel Perez, said.
Some drowned, while others were killed in a stampede at a breakwater barrier and a border fence.
Perez added that medical services have treated more than 1,000 people.
He said while the situation in the exclave had improved significantly, work remained to be done for the city to return to normal.
On Saturday, authorities installed a 500-meter (1,600-foot) floating barrier in the waters off Ceuta to boost border security, as well as reinforcing police and army patrols.
https://p.dw.com/p/5I9dtSkip next section WATCH: Spain installs floating barrier to stop Ceuta sea crossings08/02/2026August 2, 2026
WATCH: Spain installs floating barrier to stop Ceuta sea crossings
https://p.dw.com/p/5I9bJSkip next section What to know if you’re joining us on August 2Published 08/02/2026Published August 2, 2026last updated 08/02/2026last updated August 2, 2026
What to know if you’re joining us on August 2
Roshni Majumdar Editor
- Spain said on Saturday migrant crossings into its North African territory of Ceuta had stopped overnight after authorities began installing a 500-meter floating barrier at the border with Morocco.
- More than 50,000 people crossed into Ceuta by land and sea on Thursday in an unprecedented surge, Spain said more than 48,000 were returned to Morocco within 48 hours.
- The death toll from the mass crossing rose to at least 67, with migrants dying from drowning or being crushed while attempting to scale border barriers.
- European Union interior ministers will meet for emergency talks on Tuesday, with 22 member states, including Germany, calling for coordinated border measures.
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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez criticised Italy’s decision to suspend Schengen travel with Spain for one month.
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Spain has reinforced police and military deployments in Ceuta. Authorities stressed that migrants entering the territory irregularly cannot travel onward to mainland Spain or elsewhere in the Schengen area.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5I8sSSkip next section Emergency meeting of European interior ministers to take place Tuesday08/01/2026August 1, 2026
Emergency meeting of European interior ministers to take place Tuesday
An emergency video meeting of European Union interior ministers is to be held on Tuesday, according to Ireland’s prime minister, Micheal Martin.
“As Presidency holders, Ireland will convene a meeting on Tuesday of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council… to discuss developments in Ceuta,” the Irish leader wrote on Saturday.
The Republic of Ireland currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency and Irish Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Minister Jim O’Callaghan has been tapped by Martin to lead the call.
https://p.dw.com/p/5I8GvSkip next section EU’s von der Leyen says lessons must be learned to improve resilience08/01/2026August 1, 2026
EU’s von der Leyen says lessons must be learned to improve resilience
In a social media post on X, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she had “offered support to Spain from the first moment” and that most of those who stormed the Spanish North African territory of Ceuta this week had been returned to Morocco.
“Not a single person reached mainland Spain or the rest of Europe,” she said.
The head of the EU’s executive said, however, that the bloc’s “strong system” of border protections “needs to be further strengthened.”
While emphasizing coordination, she said lessons must be learned “to improve our European resilience.”
Calling for vigilance and coordination, von der Leyen ended her statement by saying, “Fighting illegal migration requires solidarity and a united European response.”
https://p.dw.com/p/5I8DqSkip next section France says no need for Spain to leave Schengen08/01/2026August 1, 2026
France says no need for Spain to leave Schengen
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez on Saturday was cited by news agency AFP as saying that despite France’s own increased security along its shared border with Spain, “We are not asking for Spain’s suspension from Schengen.”
Addressing calls by European politicians for Spain to be temporarily booted from the freedom of travel agreement, Nunez said: “Spain does not need to leave the Schengen zone. It’s absolutely not on the table. We have great cooperation with Spain.”
Italy announced a one-month suspension of visa-free movement with Spain on Friday after tens of thousands of migrants stormed the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, overwhelming authorities.
Spain has assured EU partners that irregular entry into Ceuta does not confer a right to remain in Spain, travel to the mainland, or move freely throughout Europe.
https://p.dw.com/p/5I88nSkip next section DW reporter: Ceuta locals feel ‘a mix of of fear and anger’08/01/2026August 1, 2026
DW reporter: Ceuta locals feel ‘a mix of of fear and anger’
Jan-Philipp Scholz | Saim Dušan Inayatullah Editor
DW correspondent Jan-Philipp Scholz reported high tensions in Ceuta on Saturday morning, despite the claims by the Spanish authorities that the situation in the exclave was back under control.
“I’ve still seen clashes between police, military and migrants, also between locals and some migrants this morning,” he said.
While the overwhelming majority of irregular migrants has already left the area, Scholz pointed out that thousands were still in Ceuta and Spanish authorities were growing “increasingly robust” in their efforts to get the rest to leave. Most migrants did not receive any food or water, and all the shops in the area are closed, Scholz pointed out.
“They are pushing the people away from the beaches or from overwhelmed reception centers that cannot take any more people in,” he said.
He also said that locals were feeling “a mix of fear and anger” in the wake of the incursion.
“Most people did not want to come out of their houses yesterday. And most people are still staying inside today.”
https://p.dw.com/p/5I85gSkip next section WATCH: Could the Ceuta crisis help Trump in the midterms?08/01/2026August 1, 2026
WATCH: Could the Ceuta crisis help Trump in the midterms?
Donald Trump has called the migrant crossings into Spain an “invasion.” US political analyst Michael Yaki unpacks the political strategy behind the rhetoric.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5I7zESkip next section IN PICTURES: Some migrants tell DW they don’t want to go back to Morocco08/01/2026August 1, 2026
IN PICTURES: Some migrants tell DW they don’t want to go back to Morocco
https://p.dw.com/p/5I7sPSkip next section Spanish police start installing floating barrier08/01/2026August 1, 2026
Spanish police start installing floating barrier
In Ceuta, Spanish authorities started laying a new pneumatic barrier on the sea border with Morocco.
The 500-meter (1,640-feet) long barrier is designed to stand 30 to 70 centimeters (12-28 inches) above the water line and up to one meter (3.3 feet) below it. It will run parallel to a line of anchored buoys, forming a channel that would be patrolled by Spanish law enforcement.
Many of the migrants that entered the Spanish territory of Ceuta in recent days achieved that by simply swimming around the existing barrier with Morocco and gaining access to the Spanish-controlled beach.
Spain’s El Mundo daily published a video online of a Guardia Civil boat installing the barrier.
https://p.dw.com/p/5I7sRSkip next section Most EU nations join call for emergency talks after Ceuta crisis08/01/2026August 1, 2026
Most EU nations join call for emergency talks after Ceuta crisis
In an open letter, 22 out of the EU’s 27 members demanded a video meeting of the bloc’s interior ministers on Saturday.
The meeting should be convened “as a matter of urgency” to coordinate a joint response to the situation in Ceuta, and “prevent further uncontrolled crossings.”
Earlier on Saturday, Spain’s Pedro Sanchez also called for a meeting of interior ministers.
https://p.dw.com/p/5I7opSkip next section Sanchez: Spain managed to ‘fully restore control of the border’ 08/01/2026August 1, 2026
Sanchez: Spain managed to ‘fully restore control of the border’
In less than 48 hours following the border incursion in Ceuta, the Spanish government has managed to “fully restore control of the border, provide extensive humanitarian aid, repatriate virtually all migrants who crossed irregularly, and prevent any unauthorized movement toward continental Europe,” according to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
“This has been achieved in close coordination with Moroccan authorities and with very little support from other European states,” he added in the letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other top EU officials.
He also pointedly noted that Spain was “one of the European Union’s least porous external borders, with a number of irregular entries that is half of that recorded in Italy in recent years (2021–2026), for example.”
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The Spanish leader also expressed confidence that a meeting of EU interior ministers would help “establish a common response to situations of this kind and reaffirm that the security of our external borders is a responsibility shared by all member states, and not just by those on the Union’s front lines.”
https://p.dw.com/p/5I7oUSkip next section Spain’s Sanchez decries ‘selfish’ response by other EU nations08/01/2026August 1, 2026
Spain’s Sanchez decries ‘selfish’ response by other EU nations
The head of Spain’s left-leaning government, Pedro Sanchez, demanded a video summit of all European Union interior ministers and slammed what he described as a “selfish” response by some EU members to the Ceuta crisis.
“Most have shown us their support and solidarity and have offered us their assistance. Others, however, have chosen to attack Spain and call for its temporary exclusion from the Schengen zone” Sanchez said, in apparent reference to Italy, which temporarily suspended free movement with Spain.
Denmark and Finland also called for reconsidering Spain’s participation in the Schengen agreement, while Portugal and France responded by beefing up border security.
“In the current international context, the European Union cannot afford this kind of selfish, polarizing and unlawful reaction,” Sanchez said in a letter to top EU leaders.
https://p.dw.com/p/5I7lXSkip next section Migrants in Ceuta boarding buses, trains back to Morocco08/01/2026August 1, 2026
Migrants in Ceuta boarding buses, trains back to Morocco
With no means to reach mainland Spain or stay in the African exclave of Ceuta, thousands of migrants were going back into Morocco on Friday and Saturday.
A Moroccan source cited by the French AFP news agency said the migrants would either return by bus or be taken to a train station in Morocco’s Tangier, some 70 kilometers (45 miles) away from Ceuta.
“I heard that buses had arrived to take us back home. Honestly, I just want to see my children again. I regret having come all the way here,” said 32-year-old Moroccan Rachid Aouchari.
At the same time, some of the migrants in Ceuta told DW they wanted to stay.
“And I want food. I have four days [without food],” one of them said “Nothing, nothing. Just drinking water and no food.”
“I don’t want to go back to Morocco because I don’t have anything in Morocco. Why would I want to go?”
https://p.dw.com/p/5I7kASkip next section Spain faces diplomatic fallout as France and Italy respond to Ceuta incursion08/01/2026August 1, 2026
Spain faces diplomatic fallout as France and Italy respond to Ceuta incursion
Italy has officially suspended the Schengen agreement with Spain on Saturday for one month in response to the mass crossing in Ceuta.
The Schengen deal allows for free movement between nearly all of the EU‘s 27 member states and several others that are not a part of the bloc, such as Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. It technically includes Spain’s exclaves such as Ceuta and Melilla, but passengers are still required to pass identity checks before traveling to Europe.
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Even so, many EU nations responded with alarm following the news of thousands of irregular migrants pouring into Ceuta from Morocco.
Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has described the images coming from Ceuta as “shocking.” She said the Schengen agreement suspension is an “extraordinary measure” intended to “safeguard national security and prevent possible repercussions for our nation.”
It is unclear how the temporary suspension will be implemented on the ground.
France, which shares a land border with Spain, boosted checks and deployed hundreds of additional law enforcement officers to the border by Saturday. At the same time, France’s President Emmanuel Macron pledged solidarity and offered assistance to Spain.
Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez seemed to hit back at critics online, saying that solidarity and empathy were “optional” but ” [r]espect for European treaties… is not.”
https://p.dw.com/p/5I7bjShow more posts
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