Using dense fog

Hundreds of migrants tried to swim to Spain

Migrants in Ceuta (archive photo)

(Bild: AFP)

Hundreds of migrants attempted to swim to the Spanish exclave of Ceuta on Sunday and early Monday morning. However, many of them were intercepted in the water and on the beach at Tarajal, said a police spokesperson.

The representative of the Spanish government in Ceuta, Cristina Pérez, stated that around 700 people a day had been intercepted since Thursday. The outlier was Sunday evening with around 1500. There was dense fog on those days, starting on the Moroccan coast.

Several videos of the incidents are circulating on social media, for example on the X platform.

Here you can see videos of the incident.

Exceptions for minors
"We have mastered this with Morocco," said the police spokesperson. People who crossed the border to the port city were arrested without exception and sent back to Morocco. Minors and asylum seekers are exempt.

Spain's two exclaves on the Moroccan Mediterranean coast, Ceuta and Mellla, are the only EU borders with Africa. Time and again, migrants try to enter the EU from there. Two years ago, 23 people lost their lives in the process.

Thousands of migrants on Lampedusa
Meanwhile, almost 1,000 migrants arrived in Italy via the Mediterranean on Lampedusa at the weekend. Most of the boats departed from Tunisia and Libya. Some people had to be taken to hospital.

One group reported being escorted by a drone from Libya to international waters. Such an escort service is associated with additional costs compared to what smugglers usually charge for a crossing.