Migrants outside the Temporary Centre for Immigrants after crossing from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, 31 July 2026.
Residents of Ceuta are angry after an unprecedented border crisis saw up to 60,000 migrants flood from Morocco into theetiny Spanish enclave within a 24-hour period.
The border has since been reinforced and tens of thousands of migrants have reportedly returned to Morocco voluntarily.
But shops were closed and bread was in short supply as the North African territory struggled on Friday to cope with the influx.
Shuttered storefronts lined Calle Real, Ceuta’s main commercial artery, where the usual flow of shoppers and residents was replaced by scores of migrants milling around.
“This cannot be allowed. I’m not against immigration, but I believe it has to be regulated immigration, and this isn’t regulated,” said resident Lidia.
“We can’t go about our daily lives. We can’t live our lives, we can’t do absolutely anything, and we’re at our wits’ end because nobody is helping us,” she said.
The influx triggered a political crisis in Madrid with the army mobilised and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez calling it a “a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity”
Some Moroccans who crossed into Ceuta said they had hoped to find better work opportunities in Spain, but were returning because of the mayhem in the enclave.
Abdulah Buji, a 21-year old student from Tetouan said he came to Ceuta because there are no job opportunities for young people in Morocco.
“There’s no chance to live there …That’s why I came here, but also here I haven’t found any opportunities so I should go back home,” he said.
Mohammed, a taxi driver and Ceutaa resident, said he believed that many of the migrants were deciding to return home because they expected better conditions in the enclave.
“They have come up against reality,” he said, saying some migrants told him they were returning “because they had no food”.
“There is nothing here. Those of us who are from here are struggling to make a living. We’re struggling,” he said.
On Friday evening, officials said at least 57 people had died in the rush on the Spanish side of the border.
There have been mixed reactions to the incident from other European countries, including calls for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen free movement zone.
US President Donald Trump and other far-right leaders seized on the crisis to bolster their warnings about immigration.
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