Morocco blames Ceuta migrant rush on 'misleading information' on social media

Morocco on Sunday said 11 people died trying to reach Spain's North African exclave of Ceuta this week as the country's interior ministry blamed the sudden surge on the "spread of misleading information" on social media. Morocco’s figure is significantly lower than the death toll issued by Spain, which says at least 72 people died.

Issued on: 03/08/2026 
By: FRANCE 24
Video by: Morgan AYRE

Cover image: A migrant who crossed into Spain from Morocco sits on a shore in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. © Antonio Sempere, AP
01:46

Morocco's interior ministry on Sunday issued its first toll for those who died trying to reach Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta last week, saying 11 people had died.
The figures are significantly lower than those issued by Spain, which says at least 72 people died.
Tens of thousands of would-be migrants crossed into the territory between Wednesday and Friday, sparking a diplomatic row within the European Union as some member states criticised Spain's migration policies
Rachid El Khalfi, a spokesman for Morocco's interior ministry, said that of the 11 who died, 10 had drowned, while an eleventh person fell from a rocky area.
'Pure political theatre': Ceuta migrant crisis 'used politically' to make Europe seem 'under attack'

Morocco was working with Spain to check the toll figures and to identify bodies found on Spanish territory.
The ministry blamed the sudden surge on the "malicious exploitation" of social media and the "spread of misleading information".
But it also cited the "misinterpretations of legal provisions" – a reference to a July 8 Spanish Supreme Court ruling that migrants arriving by sea should not be returned as quickly as others.
The ministry said there had been 40,000 attempts to cross into Ceuta illegally.
Another 1,135 people had tried to illegally enter the Spanish territory of Melilla, further east, but had been immediately returned to Moroccan territory, the ministry added.
Spain says more than 60,000 managed to enter Ceuta in recent days although most have now returned to Morocco.
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) has said there were "nearly 130 victims" with dozens more missing.
Prosecutors have opened an official investigation into what happened, said the ministry.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

'Pure political theatre': Ceuta migrant crisis 'used politically' to portray Europe as under attack

Cover image: © France 24   06:47

SPAIN


Issued on: 03/08/2026 - FRANCE24


Stuart Norval is pleased to welcome Camille Le Coz, Director at Migration Policy Institute Europe. Le Coz offers a nuanced interpretation of the recent events in Ceuta that challenges the dominant political narratives emerging across Europe. She shifts attention away from emotionally charged images toward the structural forces shaping migration: demographic pressures in North Africa, labour shortages in Europe, the role of smuggling networks amplified by social media, and the enduring tendency of migration crises to become instruments of domestic political competition. In doing so, she offers a reminder that Europe's migration debate is often driven less by the movement of people itself than by competing political narratives about what those movements represent.

Ceuta: more migrants leave but residents still in shock. Far-right leader visits

By Julian GOMEZ

Published on 02/08/2026 - EURONEWS

Santiago Abascal, the leader of the far-right party Vox, visited the city today and accused the government of being in thrall to Morocco.

Here at the border between Ceuta and Morocco, the situation is much calmer than in recent days. According to Spanish authorities, the majority of the at least 60,000 people who crossed irregularly at this point on Thursday have already returned.

There is still a sporadic but steady stream of people heading back. Most of those returning tell us they entered Spain after receiving social media messages claiming the border was open and that no documentation was required.

Meanwhile, in the city, fear has given way to indignation. Virtually everyone I have spoken to cannot fathom how this situation could have happened and is demanding urgent explanations. It is a tense social atmosphere that is fuelling political debate.

A taxi driver told me:

"I got the feeling that people are very, very angry. I know they’re very angry right now. There are 85,000 of us here, and 60,000 are coming in. So, tell me. What do we do? What are we going to do? We can’t even buy bread. There was no bread. There was nothing. Nothing, nothing. Everything was closed."

While he was reluctant to attribute blame, some residents were more outspoken. Alluding to the initial legal difficulty of sending the migrants back immediately because they came via the sea, a middle-aged man called PM Pedro Sanchez an "accomplice", adding: "this is a disgrace— for me, a disgrace. This has never happened before in my life."

Some Ceutanos do point to a humanitarian duty in connection with the crisis. A 78-year old pensioner told me:

"If there are children there, they need to be given something to drink, they need to be given something to eat. It’s common sense, but that now all of Ceuta, all of Spain—and Spain stands with you—is with you."

However, the situation as a whole he cannot but condemn:

"This is a state of emergency and a declaration of martial law, just to go shopping at Mercadona? I have to pass a soldier every ten meters away from him ten or twenty meters away from him and feed the troops well and the police. That’s a state of siege, and it’s a of national emergency. There’s no question about it."

Santiago Abascal, the leader of Vox, visited the city today, accusing the government of being in thrall to Morocco.

Speaking to the media, Abascal placed the responsibility for what had happened on the government in Rabat and, above all, on Pedro Sánchez himself.

He argued that Morocco acted in the conviction that there would be neither response nor reprisals, because the Spanish prime minister is, in his words, "subservient to the African country".