A 17-year-old Moroccan boy reached mainland Spain from Ceuta hidden beneath the coach of Segunda División club Real Valladolid after the team returned from a match in the North African enclave.
This was confirmed on Monday by a club source, which said the teenager was found curled up between the vehicle’s rear wheels after travelling more than 100 kilometres.
The source said he had remained there during the entire ferry crossing from Ceuta to the Iberian Peninsula before asking for help when the coach stopped at a service area.
Members of the Valladolid delegation looked after the boy, giving him food, water and clothes while waiting for the Civil Guard to arrive and take charge of him.
Spanish authorities have reported several similar cases in recent years, with migrants attempting to reach mainland Spain by hiding in different vehicles.
The incident comes amid a migration crisis in Ceuta, one of Spain’s two enclaves in North Africa, which has become a source of political and diplomatic tension since the end of July after the mass arrival there of more than 70,000 migrants from Morocco.
