Thousands of African illegal immigrants have breached the Spanish border, sparking calls for Spain to declare a national emergency and send in the military.
Shocking footage from the Spanish territory of Ceuta, which is on the northern tip of Morocco, shows hordes of people, mainly young males, pouring over the border on Thursday, just weeks after the government allowed 1.2 million illegal immigrants to apply for residency.
Massive crowds can be seen in the videos walking around breakwaters and through border crossings that appear to have been left open by authorities.
Ceuta ha caído. pic.twitter.com/XmMkNGKkIR
— David Santos (@davidsantosvlog) July 30, 2026
IN CRE I BLE #Ceuta cientos de marroquíes a la carrera tras llegar a nado al espigón del Tarajal#FronteraSur #Haraga #Inmigracion pic.twitter.com/qVA6MwDuxU
— KARIM PRIM (@KARIMPRIM) July 30, 2026
No es una crisis migratoria en Ceuta, es una declaración de guerra de Marruecos. pic.twitter.com/FaqS2z0u6E
— David Santos (@davidsantosvlog) July 30, 2026
🔴 Miles de inmigrantes ilegales asaltan la frontera y entran en la ciudad autónoma: “Es una invasión sin precedentes”.https://t.co/FwIknSSM8p pic.twitter.com/l99I8lH7sI
— Bipartidismo Stream (@Bipartidismo_) July 30, 2026
The wild scenes unfolded after thousands of illegal immigrants swam from Morocco to Ceuta during the past week, overwhelming migrant reception centres and resulting in three drownings, the Associated Press reported.
Rachid Sbihi, head of an association that represents Spain’s said the border had “totally collapsed and described the breach as “absolute chaos”.
“It’s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing,” he said.
The head of Ceuta’s regional government, Juan Jesus Vivas, said the territory “facing a situation of absolute humanitarian and social emergency” and that facilities for unaccompanied minors were 2,400% over capacity.
Mr Vivas asked for emergency measured to be put in place on national security grounds, and said the army should be brought in “to guarantee the inviolability of the frontier and citizen safety”.
But Spain’s interior ministry said a national emergency could not be declared due to concerns about immigration, and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska will visit Ceuta on Friday.
Earlier this year Spain’s far-left government under Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez bypassed parliament to approve the mass regularisation of illegal immigrants, resulting in almost 1.2 million applications.
Right-wing party Vox warned the mass amnesty rewarded illegal entry and predicted it would act as a pull factor for further unlawful immigration.
Header image: Left, right, illegal immigrants breaching the border (X).
