The death toll from the migrant crisis in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta has risen to 67, as Spanish authorities intensified efforts to restore order following one of the largest border breaches in recent years.
Spanish officials said many of the victims drowned while attempting to reach the territory by sea, while others reportedly died in a stampede as crowds tried to cross the breakwater separating Morocco from Ceuta.
In response to the crisis, Spain announced plans to install a 500-metre containment barrier along the breakwater in an effort to prevent further mass crossings after an estimated 60,000 migrants entered the enclave between Thursday and Friday.
By Saturday morning, only a small number of exhausted migrants were still attempting the dangerous swim to Ceuta’s Tarajal Beach, where Spanish soldiers intercepted them and escorted them back toward the Moroccan border.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said the majority of those who crossed into Ceuta had already been returned to Morocco as authorities accelerated repatriation efforts.
Although the streets were calmer after days of chaos, Ceuta Mayor Juan Jesus Vivas said life in the city had yet to return to normal.
“Life in this city has been disrupted as a result of the border incident,” Vivas said.
He added that while the return of migrants was progressing, authorities were still working to complete the process and restore normal activities.
Despite the ongoing returns, some migrants insisted they would remain in Ceuta.
One of them, Mohamed Hatri, a 23-year-old Moroccan, claimed restrictions had been imposed to pressure migrants into leaving.
“They’ve closed everything down so that we can’t buy anything to eat, to force us to return to our country,” he said.
“But even if everything is closed, we’re going to stay here, whether we’re hungry or not.”
The unprecedented influx has reignited debates over migration across Europe, prompting demonstrations in Madrid, tighter border controls by France, and Italy’s decision to temporarily suspend parts of its Schengen arrangements with Spain.
