A senior Moroccan official said Monday that Rabat had warned Spain weeks in advance that a Spanish court ruling would create “a problem” for migration control, as authorities on both sides of the border tallied a rising death toll from last week’s mass crossing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
The official told reporters Morocco began raising concerns with Spanish counterparts around July 22-23, after smuggling networks started circulating misleading claims about a July 8 Spanish Supreme Court ruling that migrants arriving by sea should not face immediate removal. He said the ruling was quickly exploited by traffickers, who told prospective migrants that reaching Spanish soil would guarantee protection from swift deportation.
Spain now estimates about 69,500 people have returned to Morocco from Ceuta since last week’s crossing, while Moroccan authorities put the number who entered the enclave at around 40,000. The death toll has risen to 72 on the Spanish side of the border and 11 on the Moroccan side, according to the latest figures cited by officials.
The Moroccan official pushed back on criticism from Ceuta’s regional president, Juan Jesús Vivas, who accused Rabat of having “encouraged and permitted” the influx. He said Moroccan forces could not physically hold back the scale of the crowd once momentum built, and that Morocco spends roughly €500 million a year managing migration on Spain’s behalf. He said Rabat and Madrid had continued acting “as reliable partners” in “perfect coordination,” and that responsibility for restoring an effective deterrent now rested with Spain. He added that Morocco intercepted 79,000 attempted crossings in 2024 and 74,000 last year, using a security deployment of about 24,000 personnel along its northern coast, and had neither relaxed border controls nor reduced staffing before Thursday’s surge.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen separately warned against any attempt to use irregular migration as leverage against an EU member state.
