Ceuta is experiencing an emergency after the entry of up to 60 thousand migrants in 24 hours

The governments of Spain and Morocco began working together to contain the emergency. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the region this Friday and stated that the mass arrival interrupts the trend of reducing irregular migratory flows recorded in recent months.

Tension also spread to the Moroccan side of the border. In the city of Fnideq, hundreds of people tried to advance towards Spanish territory, triggering violent clashes, vandalism and vehicle fires.

Images shown by Spanish broadcasters also showed large groups returning to Morocco after having managed to enter Ceuta.

Spain's Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, estimates that approximately 25,000 migrants have already voluntarily returned to Moroccan territory. According to him, returns occurred at a rate of 150 people per minute.

If the estimates are correct, between 25,000 and 35,000 migrants would still remain in Ceuta. Other calculations cited by the international press indicate, however, that this number could reach 60 thousand.

Pedro Sánchez attributed the mobilization to human trafficking networks, accused of spreading a distorted interpretation of a recent decision by the Supreme Court of Spain. According to the prime minister, the information spread quickly throughout Morocco and provoked a large movement towards the border.

Reports from migrants indicate that the sentence would have created the perception that people who enter Spain irregularly by sea cannot be immediately returned to the authorities of another country.

The president of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, had already criticized what he classified as a legal loophole. For him, the rule makes swimming in more advantageous than trying to overcome the fence that separates the two territories, encouraging new crossings.

Sánchez announced that the Civil Guard intends to install buoys in the maritime border area. The measure seeks to create a physical containment barrier and allow authorities to comply with the Supreme Court's decision.

The numbers on the entry of migrants still vary. Juan Jesús Vivas estimates that around 60,000 people arrived in Ceuta in one day, while the Spanish government works with an estimate of 50,000.

See the images in the gallery above.

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