A crisis at the border in Ceuta, a tiny Spanish territory in North Africa, has resulted in unsubstantiated claims about Spain’s migration policies and the causes of the border surge at the territory’s frontier with Morocco.
Some 60,000 migrants entered Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday and Friday, local Spanish officials have said, equivalent to 70% of the city’s regular population.
At least 57 migrants died attempting the crossing either by drowning while trying to swim to Spanish territory or in a stampede.
Here’s a look at the facts.
CLAIM: Spain’s move to legalise the status of immigrants caused the rush.
THE FACTS: Spain’s government is carrying out an amnesty for immigrants without residency permits who could prove they had been living in the country for at least five months and arrived before Jan. 1, 2026. Over 1 million people applied before the window closed at the end of last month.
Critics say that the amnesty sparked the rush to the Ceuta border by sending the message that Spain is lenient on migrants.
Spain's “weak law, bad management” was to blame, Trump said Friday.
Spain's government strongly rejects that premise, saying that criminal gangs were behind the border crisis.
Madrid has tried to maintain a hard line on illegal attempts to cross its borders while encouraging orderly arrivals of workers, who the government says are needed to keep up the country's strong economy.
Poverty and youth unemployment are high in neighbouring Morocco, particularly away from coastal cities that have experienced some development in recent years. Gen Z-led protests last year called for social justice and better public services.
Still, it isn’t fully clear what caused the sudden surge in crossings at Ceuta.
CLAIM: A misconstrued Spanish court ruling is to blame.
THE FACTS: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said that a recent ruling by Spain's Supreme Court had been intentionally misconstrued by migrant smugglers to convince thousands of people to cross the border by swimming around the border fence.
That court ruling said migrants arriving by sea could not be summarily deported without due process, unlike those who cross by land or climb the border fence because they had not crossed a physical barrier.
Migration and human rights activists said social media posts and misinformation helped fuel the departures.
“The departures were promoted in a certain way. At first, people were hearing that the border was open, and then everyone started referring to the Spanish court decision. That contributed to the crossings,” said Achraf Maimouni, a human-rights activist.
CLAIM: Morocco intentionally opened the border
THE FACTS: In this most recent crisis, which dwarfs the one five years prior, the first response by Spanish officials was to say that Moroccan counterparts were working alongside them to stop the rush.
Whatever those efforts were, they proved ineffective as migrants kept steadily coming from all over Morocco to the border, with thousands breaching the frontier on Thursday and Friday.
Eventually, Moroccan security forces stepped up, employing tear gas, batons and water cannons to disperse large groups of migrants reaching the border on Friday.
Morocco’s ambassador to Spain expressed hope that those who crossed from Morocco into the Spanish territory would return, saying the situation had unfolded against Rabat’s wishes.
Morocco has never officially recognised Ceuta and its sister Spanish enclave, Melilla, as European territory even though they have been under Spanish control for centuries.
CLAIM: Spain and Morocco don't share an actual border, so this can't really be called a "border crisis"
THE FACTS: Geography helps explain the connection.
Spain's southern coast lies only about nine miles from Morocco across the Strait of Gibraltar. Closer still are the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, both bordering Morocco on the North African coast.
Ceuta, which has been under Spanish control since 1580, occupies a peninsula jutting into the Mediterranean, while Melilla lies farther east.
Although Ceuta and Melilla are part of the European Union and covered by Schengen rules, Spain enforces additional border checks on travel from the enclaves to the mainland.
That prevents undocumented migrants from moving freely into the rest of Europe, with asylum applications instead handled within the enclaves themselves.
CLAIM: Those who crossed will end up in mainland Europe.
THE FACTS: The Ceuta crossings have led political leaders both in Italy and France to take measures that appear aimed at stopping people from entering their countries.
Italy has suspended its open-border Schengen agreement with Spain even though Italy doesn’t share a border with Spain and is also an entry point for tens of thousands of migrants crossing the Mediterranean each year.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said France would also strengthen border checks with Spain.
While the influx is clearly unmanageable for the city of Ceuta, the impact of the crossing will mostly be limited to the Spanish territory and have limited impact on mainland Spain.
Spain said it had struck a deal with Morocco to return those who entered the country illegally.
More than half of the people who crossed had already returned to Morocco voluntarily by Friday afternoon, and those who will remain in Ceuta will either be sent back eventually or face a long period of legal limbo and possibly spells in government-run centres.
