Spain PM to visit Ceuta after 19 migrants die breaching border from Morocco

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing authorities and reporting from The Associated Press and Reuters, says at least 19 migrants died while trying to enter Ceuta, Spain’s North African enclave bordering Morocco, during a large-scale movement of people by land and sea on Thursday and overnight into Friday. The report, published July 31, 2026, says news agencies quoted unnamed police sources and officials as estimating that more than 40,000 people may have reached the territory within 24 hours.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the government was deploying all available resources and was expected to travel to Ceuta on Friday with Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska. A local workers’ association leader representing Civil Guard officers, Rachid Sbihi, described severe humanitarian conditions, including unaccompanied children and other migrants sleeping in public spaces. He said many of the dead drowned, while others were killed during a crush near the Tarajal beach breakwater fence.

The report says Moroccan authorities used water cannon and pushed people back near border gates, where burned vehicles were visible after clashes. Footage described by Al Jazeera showed mostly young men, along with families, moving around breakwaters into local roads. Ceuta and Melilla are Spain’s autonomous cities in North Africa and form the European Union’s only land borders with Africa, making them frequent focal points for migration attempts.

Ceuta officials linked the surge to a Spanish Supreme Court decision limiting immediate returns of migrants arriving by sea, though Moroccan activists questioned whether migrants would know about that ruling. France said it would increase checks at its border with Spain, while Italy’s prime minister threatened Schengen-related action. Spain’s Interior Ministry rejected calls for a national emergency but promised extra resources.