“Under the current international situation, the European Union cannot have such selfish, polarizing and illegal reactions.” Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez wrote to the European Union on August 1, expressing dissatisfaction with the reaction of some European Union countries following the appearance of a “smuggling tide” in Spain‘s enclave of Ceuta in North Africa. Recently, Italian Prime Minister Meloni announced the suspension of the Schengen free passage mechanism with Spain and the resumption of border checks. The Finnish Interior Minister accused Spain of failing to protect the “external border” of the Schengen region, and the French government also ordered the strengthening of border check measures. The U.S. “Political News Network”‘s European edition commented that the Ceuta incident was the latest sign that the Schengen free pass mechanism “is facing an increasingly serious threat” and that the immigration issue has become an explosive pan-European political issue. According to the British Independent, after Spain and the other 22 EU member countries issued separate appeals, Prime Minister Martin of Ireland, the rotating president of the EU Council, announced that the EU would hold an emergency meeting on 4 to discuss the recent immigration crisis Ceuta faces.
To prevent large-scale illegal crossings from Ceuta again, Spain upgraded border control and installed new maritime intercept facilities.
Spain Increases Marine Interception Facilities
Ceuta is located in northwest Africa, bordering Morocco, with an area of about 18.5 square kilometers. “An unprecedented wave of immigration,” France‘s international radio website reported on the 2nd. Ceuta has only about 80,000 permanent residents, but within two to three days, about 50,000 illegal immigrants entered from the Moroccan direction. Among them, many chose to enter Ceuta by swimming from the sea or using simple floating devices. According to the Spanish National newspaper on the 2nd, Spanish government representative Pérez in Ceuta released data that day showing that the incident had caused at least 72 deaths.
The Spanish government said that more than 48,000 illegal immigrants had returned to Morocco as of August 1, according to the Spanish national radio and television station. To prevent further large-scale illegal crossings, the Spanish government further upgraded border control measures, including installing new sea intercept facilities on the breakwaters. The system consists of 500-meter-long inflatable floating barriers extending underwater to a maximum depth of about 1 meter, with intermediate lanes reserved for National Guard of the United States patrol boats performing patrol missions. Meanwhile, Spain continued to strengthen cooperation with Moroccan border enforcement. Moroccan authorities said they had arrested 70 people suspected of organizing and participating in violent activities related to this illegal crossings incident.
CNN and the Independent reported that the “smuggling tide” incident sparked divisions within the European Union. Italian Prime Minister Meloni announced a suspension of the Schengen free passage mechanism with Spain, a move supported by Finland and Denmark. Danish Prime Minister Frazerikson urged the European Union to “consider all options, including a suspension of Schengen cooperation.” Finnish Interior Minister Rantánin accused Spain of failing to protect the “external borders” of the Schengen region and said “this situation cannot continue.” French President Macron said Ceuta does not enjoy free movement to “other regions of the Schengen region” and he has ordered the strengthening of French and Spanish border checks.
Sanchez‘s Strong Response
“Ceuta Crisis: 22 EU leaders unite against Spanish (Prime Minister) Sanchez‘s immigration policy.” The European edition of the “Political News Network” reported on this topic on 1st that 22 EU member leaders, including Meloni and German Prime Minister Merz, wrote to the EU expressing “serious concern” about the threat facing the EU‘s “external borders”, and highlighted that the Spanish government‘s plan to give legal identities to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants is an “attractive factor” that exacerbates this crisis. Madrid had previously refuted similar claims, saying that anyone who entered Ceuta illegally was not entitled to benefit from this measure.
According to Spain‘s national radio and television station, these EU leaders also linked the Ceuta crisis to a ruling of the Spanish Supreme Court. In July, the Spanish Supreme Court announced a ruling that, given that Ceuta and Melilla implement special border management systems as enclaves, immigrants arriving from the sea cannot be immediately repatriated, while immigrants who intrude via land via overcoming border fences are allowed to be immediately repatriated. There are analyses that this ruling was misinterpreted as “as long as you swim into Ceuta, you can stay in Spain and eventually obtain legal identity,” which quickly spread on social platforms.
The Independent and Euronews reported on Sunday that Sanchez and senior Spanish officials criticized the reactions of some EU countries, saying that “solidarity and sympathy are optional” but that respect for the European Treaty is indispensable. In a “strongly worded” letter to the EU, Sanchez expressed “serious concern” about the reactions of some EU countries. He said that most countries “expressed support and support to us and provided assistance, but others chose to attack Spain and called for temporary exclusion of Spain from the Schengen zone.” Sanchez also said that some EU countries‘ attitudes were “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political interests,” which not only violate European law, humanitarian law and EU unity principles, but also harm Europe‘s long-term interests.
Immigration is an “extremely divisive topic” within Europe
It is noteworthy that, contrary to popular perception, the number of people entering the European Union illegally is actually decreasing, the British Times said in its 1st-day article. A report released by the European Border Authority last month showed that the number of people entering the EU illegally in the first half of this year was 49,000, down 37% from the same period in 2025, well below the level of 2015. However, in Europe, mass immigration and its widespread impact on society remain a highly divisive topic.
The U.S. New York Times said on 2nd that tens of thousands of immigrants have recently suddenly poured into Ceuta, whose chaos and scale remind one of similar scenes that occurred in coastal regions of Greece and Italy 11 years ago. The 2015 refugee crisis deepened opposition to immigration in many parts of Europe and promoted the development of far-right forces. As in the past, the European far-right camp now hopes to use the Ceuta incident to show the dangers of relatively relaxed immigration policies. The difference is that to avoid political rebound, some European center-wing leaders have also implemented strong policies and used strong rhetoric on immigration issues, abandoning the more open attitude of 11 years ago. This trend shows that the attitude of Spain‘s current left-wing government is somewhat “out of place”.
There were also European leaders who expressed support for Sanchez, and according to the Independent and other British media, British Prime Minister Burnham expressed his willingness to provide assistance. The European Council Chairman and former Portuguese Prime Minister Costa praised Spain‘s “firm response measures.”