CEUTA
\nThousands of migrants crossed overnight from Morocco into Spain\u2019s north Africa\u2019s Ceuta enclave, a police source said on Friday, as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was set to arrive to manage the latest migrant crisis on the border.
\nIn recent days, a total of around 40,000 migrants have crossed into the territory \u2014 population 80,000 \u2014 the source added.
\nThe sudden massive influx has sparked a crisis for Spain\u2019s government and prompted France to announce tighter checks on its border with Spain.
\nMadrid has sent troops to boost security in Ceuta. Sanchez and his interior minister were due to visit the enclave\u2019s Tarajal border on Friday, the government said.
\nAFP reporters have seen hundreds of people \u2014 men, women and children \u2014 entering Ceuta by swimming around a border barrier with Morocco to enter the Spanish exclave, discarding flotation rings and clothes used in the risky passage.
\nSo far, 18 people have died attempting to reach the Spanish enclave, the police source said.
\n\u201cThere was a steady stream of people all night long,\u201d the source said, adding that migrants \u201ccontinued to arrive overnight and are still arriving\u201d early Friday.
\nIt was not immediately clear what has prompted the recent surge of migrants from Morocco.
\nIn 2021, thousands crossed to take advantage of Rabat loosening border controls during a diplomatic dispute with Spain.
\nAlready the Cueta scenes of the surge in migrants were causing diplomatic fallout.
\nItaly on Thursday called for Spain to be suspended from Europe\u2019s open-borders Schengen zone, prompting Spain to summon Italy\u2019s ambassador and accuse Rome of using the crisis for political gain.
\nTwo top officials within US President Donald Trump\u2019s White House on Thursday also reiterated their anti-immigration politics using video of Ceuta.
\n\u2018Bye Morocco\u2019
\nCeuta, a territory of 18.5 square kilometres (seven square miles), and similar enclave Melilla have Europe\u2019s only two land borders with Africa.
\nEbullient migrants on Thursday were walking through the streets of Ceuta, thanking the Spanish police and calling out: \u201cBye bye Morocco, hello Spain.\u201d
\nPolice and Civil Guards in Ceuta appeared to do little to intervene, although some officers attempted to direct the arrivals to the local migrant reception centre.
\nMorocco\u2019s authorities had not yet issued an official statement on the flow of migrants, but a Moroccan official source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the two countries had spoken about the matter.
\nIn 2021, more than 10,000 migrants reached Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco over the course of two days, taking advantage of a loosening of border controls by Rabat during a crisis between the two countries.
\nThat dispute erupted after Spain decided to host the leader of the Sahrawi independence movement, the Polisario Front, for medical treatment.
\nPolisario guerrillas fought a long war with Morocco over independence of the Western Sahara region. Morocco\u2019s neighbour Algeria had supported the Polisario group.
\nThat diplomatic crisis ended in 2022 when Madrid reversed its long-standing policy of neutrality and backed Morocco\u2019s plan for Western Sahara\u2014 a move that had caused a diplomatic rift between Madrid and Algiers.
\nSanchez visited Algiers on July 20 \u2014 the first such visit by a Spanish head of government in four years \u2014 marking a thaw in relations with Algeria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CEUTA Thousands of migrants crossed overnight from Morocco into Spain\u2019s north Africa\u2019s Ceuta enclave, a police source said on Friday, as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was set to arrive to manage the latest migrant crisis on the border. In recent days, a total of around 40,000 migrants have crossed into the territory \u2014 population 80,000 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559525,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-559502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n