The arrival of some 60,000 people within 24 hours into Spain’s tiny north African enclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco has created a political, diplomatic and humanitarian crisis for Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist government in Madrid. It has also fuelled EU tensions on the migration issue, with an emergency meeting of justice and home affairs ministers to be held on Tuesday.
The numbers who crossed were more than five times greater than those seen in the last major influx of migrants into the enclave in 2021 and at least 72 people lost their lives as they tried to cross the border by swimming across a breakwater.
The Spanish authorities believe the mass arrival may have been prompted by a supreme court ruling three weeks ago which found that migrants who attempted to arrive by sea, rather than climbing over a physical barrier to reach Ceuta, could not be sent back to Morocco immediately. However the Spanish government says this judgement was misinterpreted and that illegal migrants entering Ceuta can be quickly returned.
Spain has in the past accused Morocco of using migration as a diplomatic tool by allowing large numbers to cross into Ceuta when it wants to make a point to Madrid. Despite recent tensions, the relationship between Rabat and Madrid has been generally good since Sanchez took office.
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By Sunday, most of the migrants had returned to Morocco. However, Spain’s conservative opposition seized on the events to criticise Sanchez’s immigration policy as too liberal, calling on him to declare a state of emergency.
The episode has added fuel to the EU migration debate. Italy’s Georgia Meloni said she had suspended cooperation with Spain under the Schengen open borders system for a month, prompting Madrid’s foreign minister to accuse her of demagoguery.
Sanchez, in a letter sent to the European Commission, the European Council president and – as Ireland holds the EU presidency – Taoiseach Micheál Martin, said attacks on Spain by some EU members were “ driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance and political interest.”
However, 22 EU countries, including Italy and Germany, issued a public letter critical of Spain and expressing “ serious concern” about what happened in Ceuta and several right-wing governments blamed Spain for encouraging immigration and demanded tighter controls.
The Irish EU presidency now faces a difficult job in trying to calm political tensions. Political posturing like Meloni’s will do nothing to address the reason so many young Moroccans were willing to risk their lives to reach the Spanish enclave, which is the poor economic prospects in their own country. In the meantime, dealing with the crisis in Ceuta depends on cooperation with Morocco and that requires careful diplomacy rather than grandstanding and bluster.
