Officials in the Spanish territory of Ceuta on the northwestern tip of Africa on Thursday asked the government in Madrid to declare a national emergency and send the army to help secure its border with Morocco.
The call came as video footage showed crowds of people trying to walk around the breakwaters separating Moroccan and Spanish territory or otherwise scale the border fence.
The AP news agency showed video footage shot by a freelance photographer of crowds reaching a beach and roads in the city, while Spanish news agency EFE reported that hundreds had climbed over protective barriers at places and a time when a police presence was not on hand.
A spokesman for Spain’s Guardia Civil police told Reuters that migrants had overwhelmed police at the city’s breakwater, after swimming over from the Moroccan side, and were entering en masse. They did not estimate a figure.
In recent days, rescue parties had noted increased numbers of people trying to swim around the border checks.
The scenes were reminiscent of a similar flashpoint at the border crossing in May of 2021 when more than 8,000 people entered the territory in just two days.
What did the regional government head say?
Juan Jesus Vivas, head of the Ceuta regional government, called for the Spanish government in Madrid to declare an emergency on grounds of national security, asking for more police and for the army to be deployed on the border. This followed a meeting of the city’s board of spokespersons who reached a unanimous agreement.
“Yesterday, I spoke out to warn of the extreme gravity of the migration crisis we are enduring,” Vivas wrote online. “Today, mere hours later, the situation is even more critical: another night of mass arrivals, nearly a thousand people waiting outside the CETI [Temporary Migrant Reception Center], our reseources completely overwhelmed, and another life lost at sea.”
He said that the small city was facing “a humanitarian and social emergency” of national proportions.
“We cannot face this pressure alone — pressure that has resulted in the arrival of between 1,500 and 2,000 people in just 10 days, equivalent to 2% of our population.”
He wrote that “with every passing hour, the situation becomes more difficult.”
This is a developing story. More to follow…
Edited by: Sean Sinico
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