Recent Tensions and Border Security

The attempted crossing occurred two weeks after more than 72,000 migrants surged into Ceuta on 30 July, while that incident led to tensions within the European Union and increased anti-immigration rhetoric among far-right parties globally. At least 96 people died during the earlier attempt to reach European soil.

Security Measures and Responses

A source in Morocco’s interior ministry told Reuters that the detainees were arrested in or around Fnideq, the Moroccan city near Ceuta — Moroccan police used teargas to disperse groups of migrants gathered on hills approximately 1.9 miles (3km) from the border, according to Spanish news agency EFE. Reuters later reported that hundreds of police officers, some in riot gear and others in plainclothes, were returning from the hills outside Fnideq.

EFE and Spanish state broadcaster TVE said Morocco’s interior ministry ordered their journalists to leave Fnideq immediately, without providing an explanation, but In Ceuta, Spanish soldiers guarded supermarkets while police patrolled the main streets. The city was calmer than in the days after the deadly crossing attempt on 30 July.

Madrid has since installed a maritime barrier and deployed more than 500 additional police officers from mainland Spain, raising the total number of officers in Ceuta to more than 1,600. Spain’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said on Thursday that the reinforcements would remain for as long as needed.

“We’ll continue to deploy whatever personnel are necessary to restore normality as soon as possible and prevent events like those of 30 July from happening again,” Grande-Marlaska said. The minister also noted that about 5,000 migrants remained in Ceuta, but Reuters observed hundreds of migrants sheltering from the scorching heat under makeshift bamboo shelters on the urban beach of El Trampolin.

Legal Status and Return Policies

Grande-Marlaska said that migrants who entered irregularly would not be allowed to stay in the territory, travel to mainland Spain, or obtain legal status, except in rare cases involving extreme vulnerability. Those without a right to remain would be returned to Morocco, he added.

Earlier this week, Rabat said it was monitoring “the circulation of social media posts and messages of unknown origin” calling for a mass crossing on 15 August. The Moroccan government warned it would prosecute organizers and participants of such attempts — a Reuters witness saw reinforced security near the border, including police vans with wire shields and road checkpoints. Local media also reported similar measures near Melilla, another Spanish territory in North Africa.

Authorities prevented several groups from boarding trains and buses to northern Morocco in cities such as Casablanca, Fez, and Kenitra, However, witnesses told Reuters that some migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were bypassing security checkpoints by taking mountain routes towards Fnideq. One witness said the schools in Fnideq had been turned into accommodation for security forces deployed near the border.