MADRID — Spain says 70,000 of the 72,000 migrants who surged into its North African enclave of Ceuta last week have already been returned to Morocco, as the European Union pledged stronger early-warning systems to prevent a repeat of the crisis.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said 72,000 people had crossed into Ceuta since Thursday, with 70,000 now back on Moroccan soil. More than 80 died trying to make the crossing, many by swimming or wading through rough waters, according to Euro News.
Grande-Marlaska stressed that Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI) had not warned of a crisis on this scale. Had there been an alert comparable to May 2021, when around 10,000 entered Ceuta in hours, the information would have reached the highest levels of the state but it did not, he said.
His remarks came after an extraordinary videoconference of EU interior ministers, called by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and backed by 22 member states. EU countries expressed “strong solidarity” with Spain and promised to strengthen early-warning and alert mechanisms for this type of crisis.
The minister described the session as “absolutely constructive,” saying European partners acknowledged the “effective and immediate” Spanish response. Still, several countries had previously raised concerns about how risks are managed on Europe’s southern border.
Grande-Marlaska underlined that Ceuta holds a special status within the Schengen area: no one can leave the autonomous city without undergoing an effective document check.
In parallel, the government announced an extra €25 million for Ceuta to support unaccompanied migrant minors who arrived during the crisis. The funding, confirmed by government spokesperson Elma Saiz, builds on €5.5 million approved in July and aims to ensure an appropriate response for the city’s most vulnerable.
Saiz called on all autonomous regions including those governed by the Popular Party to help receive and care for unaccompanied minors. Two educational centres have been made available in Ceuta to accommodate children, with particular attention to girls, and Youth Minister Sira Rego is set to visit in the coming days.
The measures also include implementing the reform of the Immigration Act, which provides for a system to relocate unaccompanied minors from territories under high migratory pressure, such as Ceuta, to other autonomous regions.
Saiz reiterated that the executive had “never” received any report anticipating the scale of last Thursday’s crisis, though it had been working on forecasts of an increase in irregular summer arrivals. She praised Morocco’s cooperation as key to delivering an “exceptional response.”
For now, the immediate pressure has eased. But the question remains: how to stop the next surge before it begins.
