Migrants swim from Morocco to Ceuta amid warnings that the enclave is overwhelmed

Migrants swim from Morocco to Ceuta amid warnings that the enclave is overwhelmed

Early on Saturday, roughly 100 people, including multiple children, attempted to reach Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta by swimming from the Moroccan coast, a route that local officials say has pushed the territory’s already strained reception network to the brink. Authorities in Ceuta warned that services for new arrivals are nearing collapse, citing a surge in attempts in recent weeks and the difficulty of managing sudden inflows concentrated in short time frames.

In the latest incident, dozens of swimmers were intercepted before entering the enclave. Seven children made it ashore and were transferred to the regional authorities responsible for their care. A spokesperson for the Spanish central government’s delegation in Ceuta said the group tried to exploit low-visibility fog conditions but did not succeed because Moroccan security forces and Spain’s Civil Guard, working alongside rescue vessels, blocked access to Ceuta’s coastline. The same spokesperson confirmed the arrival of the seven minors despite the broader interception efforts that morning.

Officials report a clear uptick in crossings toward Ceuta in recent weeks, including a single day on 26 July when more than 50 children swam across from Morocco. The pattern reflects a tactic in which larger groups attempt the crossing simultaneously, often at night or in fog, to complicate detection and rescue operations. Numbers fluctuate by day, but authorities highlight that a few dispersed swimmers are easier to intercept, whereas mass attempts increase the likelihood that some will slip through and reach shore before patrols can respond.

The usual route requires entering the Strait of Gibraltar’s hazardous currents from the Moroccan side and then navigating around the long sea fences that extend from the land border into the water to delineate Ceuta from Moroccan territory. Interdicted swimmers are returned to Morocco under established procedures. This dynamic—dangerous maritime passages followed by rapid enforcement action—has defined the recent episodes reported by Spanish and Moroccan authorities, with coordination at sea intended to prevent arrivals while also conducting rescues when swimmers are in distress.

Local leaders in Ceuta have been vocal about capacity limits. Last month, Juan Jesús Rivas, the conservative president of the autonomous city, said the enclave was “totally overwhelmed” by the number of young migrants in its care and appealed for other Spanish regions to take some of the burden. He underscored that Ceuta covers about 20 square kilometers out of Spain’s roughly 500,000 square kilometers yet hosts 3% of the country’s minors, which he characterized as unsustainable and a risk to both child care services and the broader functioning of the city.

By late July, Alberto Gaitán, a spokesperson for the Ceuta government, reported that the enclave was housing 528 foreign minors despite an official capacity for only 27. He said contingency plans were active to transfer children to other autonomous communities to alleviate pressure. According to Gaitán, between 2021 and 2024 approximately 450 minors were relocated to other regions, with a further 80 transferred for family reunification across Spain, indicating ongoing redistribution efforts designed to reduce strain on Ceuta’s facilities.

At the national level, Spanish lawmakers approved a decree four months ago to redistribute 4,400 foreign minors among Spain’s autonomous communities, including to the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla, Spain’s other North African enclave. The measure, advanced by the Socialist government and its parliamentary partners, sparked political disagreement. The conservative Popular party criticized the redistribution as arbitrary and unfair, while the far-right Vox party voted against it, arguing it would admit men of military age not fleeing war and coming from cultures they described as incompatible.

Political contention continued into July, when regions governed by the Popular party boycotted a meeting on how to implement the redistribution of minors. Despite the disagreements, Ceuta’s authorities point to prior relocations as proof that other regions, regardless of political leadership, have contributed to relief measures. The city government maintains that without continued transfers, the volume of unaccompanied or newly arrived minors will exceed what Ceuta’s infrastructure can support, given its limited area and resources.

The risks of the Morocco–Ceuta route remain significant. The UN’s International Organization for Migration reports that 572 people died or disappeared last year while attempting to reach Spain from North Africa. So far this year, 155 people have lost their lives on those routes, seven of them children. These figures underscore the danger inherent in swimming across currents or attempting other irregular maritime crossings in the region, where conditions can change quickly and overwhelm even experienced swimmers.

Recent cases illustrate the hazards and the persistence of attempts. A 23-year-old Egyptian man was rescued from the Mediterranean after trying to reach Spain from Morocco using a flotation ring and fins. In a separate incident in 2021, a boy was photographed floating on empty plastic bottles as he tried to reach Ceuta. These episodes, cited by authorities and widely reported, highlight both the desperation that drives individuals to attempt the crossing and the ongoing pressure on border control and rescue services in and around the enclave.