Most migrants who entered Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta illegally from Morocco have now returned, according to the Spanish authorities.
The return flow underlined the chaos that gripped Ceuta, with many migrants crossing back over the border on Friday to re-enter Morocco. “There are too many people here, everything is full,” one migrant told AFP.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said “almost all those who entered Ceuta have already returned to Morocco”.
The migrants came from the Moroccan town of Fnideq, next to the Spanish enclave, arriving throughout the night by land and sea. Some crossed the high barbed-wire fences marking the border, while others went around them by sea.
Eighteen people drowned during the crossings, according to a police source.
In Madrid, several hundred anti-migrant demonstrators, many dressed in black, gathered outside the Moroccan embassy on Friday evening to denounce what they called a migrant “invasion” in Ceuta.
Some chanted slogans including “Spain is Christian, not Muslim”, while others held a large banner reading “Remigration” — a term used by many far-right groups in Europe to advocate sending immigrants back to their countries of origin.
