A rush of tens of thousands of migrants from Morocco flooded into the autonomous city of Ceuta over a 24 hour period, as President of the city, Juan Jesús Vivas called on the Government of Spain to declare a national emergency.

Speaking to Cadena Ser and Onda Cero, Vivas insisted that decisions regarding the mass migrant crossing, must be made with ‘the energy that a crisis and an emergency of this magnitude, of this size, and of this nature requires.’

Vivas added that the matter was a ‘national emergency.’ In total, an estimated 60,000 people have entered Ceuta from Morocco, about 70 percent of the city’s population.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez arrived in Ceuta on Friday morning and attributed the mass crossing to ‘human trafficking mafias’ which had taken advantage of Spain’s recent supreme court ruling, which stated that migrants intercepted at sea while trying to enter Ceuta or Spain’s other enclave Melilla, could not be returned.

The Fifth Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber had confirmed earlier in July that the ‘Tenth Additional Provision of the Immigration Law does not allow the application of rejection at the border, also known as ”hot returns”, to migrants who intend to swim to the cities of Ceuta and Melilla.’

Sánchez said at an emergency press conference that the government of Spain would work with the city of Ceuta to ensure the safety of residents, and asserted that Spain would work with Moroccan authorities to fight against the mafias that traffic humans.

Since the original publishing of this story, Spain’s Guardia Civil, along with the Spanish Navy, has installed containment barriers around Ceuta’s coast.

Hoy ha comenzado la instalación de las barreras de contención en el espigón del Tarajal (Ceuta), en un operativo conjunto de la Guardia Civil, la @Armada_esp y @salvamentogob Marítimo (Sasemar).

✔️ El dispositivo consta de una barrera neumática de 500 metros, reforzada con una… pic.twitter.com/gRlBK2kk7D

— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) August 1, 2026

In response to the unprecedented crossing, Italy’s President Giorgia Meloni said that Italy would be ‘temporarily suspending the free movement regime provided for by the Schengen in maritime and air connections with Spain, reintroducing border controls.’

She added that this was an ‘extraordinary measure, adopted to safeguard national security and prevent possible repercussions for [Italy].’

As of 6th August 2026, at least 100 migrants have died crossing the waters surrounding Ceuta, and while many have returned to Morocco, the city’s leader Vivas said in an EU parliamentary meeting, that between 3,000 and 5,000 remain in Ceuta.