Border crisis in Ceuta

Sánchez hits back: EU cannot afford to be selfish and polarizing

Yesterday, a number of European leaders harshly criticized Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez after the refugee crisis in Ceuta. At the same time, demands were made, including from Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, for Spain to act.

Now Sánchez is addressing his critics who he believes have a selfish attitude.

“In the current international context, the EU cannot afford this selfish, polarized and illegal reaction,” he writes in a letter in which he also demands a ministerial meeting with all 27 member states.

The reaction is in line with what he wrote on Friday on X.

“Solidarity and empathy are optional. Respect for European agreements and facts are not,” he wrote at the time.

Unrest at the border with Ceuta – at least 70 arrested in Morocco

At least 70 people have been arrested on the Moroccan side of the border with the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. This is reported by the Spanish news agency Efe.

The Moroccan city of Fnideq – normally a popular tourist destination for Moroccans – is located just south of Ceuta and is where many of the people who have returned from Ceuta have now gone. Efe describes the city as being overwhelmed and shops, restaurants and banks are closed.

People are spending the night in parks while looking for transport to leave the small town and get home to their cities of origin.

Although thousands of migrants have already started their return journey to their cities of origin, many continue to wander the streets, spend the night in parks and other public spaces and look for some form of transport to leave this city in northern Morocco, which is traditionally a popular holiday destination for Moroccan families.

Meanwhile, cleaning patrols are working to remove rubbish, stones and the remains of burnt-out vehicles near the border with Ceuta, where the situation is gradually returning to normal.

Spanish minister: Border crisis averted – situation almost normal in Ceuta

After a few chaotic days, the situation in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta has now returned to “almost normal”, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said at a press conference, AFP reports:

– Almost everyone has already left Ceuta, he said.

The announcement comes after nearly 60,000 migrants crossed the border into the Spanish exclave in just a few days in the hope of continuing their lives in Europe. The border crisis has led to a dozen European countries demanding that Spain close the border and refuse the migrants entry.

According to AFP, the migrants have returned by bus to Tangier, Tetouan and Casablanca.

Analysis: Refugee crisis in Ceuta could divide Europe

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was met with anger and jeers when he visited the Spanish exclave of Ceuta on Friday.

Protesters demanded that Sánchez rein in the chaos and shouted obscenities. Around Europe – from European leaders – the message later in the day was the same, albeit rephrased in slightly more diplomatic terms, according to Berlingske’s foreign correspondent Solveig Gram Jensen:

“Right now it is difficult to assess whether what we are seeing is the beginning of a new migrant crisis or not – but the risk of a crisis within the EU is obvious,” she writes.

The BBC’s Sarah Rainsford reports that many have speculated about Morocco’s role in the incident. But Spain, she says, has so far played down such speculation.

“Spain now needs help from Morocco to be able to send people back there,” she says.