At least 2,700 migrants, among them hundreds of minors, reached Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco on Monday, a record in a single day, Spanish officials said.
A spokesman for the local Spanish government in Ceuta said the numbers arriving were unprecedented, adding that the migrants reached the enclave by swimming or walking at low tide from beaches in neighbouring Morocco.
Spanish media says Moroccan border guards did not stop them when they made the crossing.
Spain’s Ceuta and Melilla enclaves have become magnets for African migrants as thousands try to cross into the territory every year.
Early reports on Monday said more than 100 people had come overnight around the coast at Benzu on the north side of Ceuta, followed by some at Tarajal on the south side.
Most were said to be young men, but the group also included children and several families. Many had used inflatable rings and rubber dinghies, authorities added.
They were taken to a migrant reception centre. But as more turned up later in the day, officials said the number had risen to 2,700 – an unprecedented figure which they warned could rise further.
Last month more than 100 migrants arrived in Tarajal. Most of them were sent back, except about 30 minors whose ages were confirmed by medical tests.
The arrivals come at a tense time in Morocco’s relations with Spain. Morocco is angry that the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, has been receiving treatment in a Spanish hospital.
Polisario has been fighting for the independence of Western Sahara for decades. The territory was occupied by Spain until 1975, when Morocco took control of most of it.
The EU border force Frontex reports that illegal migration to Spain’s Canary Islands – off the Moroccan coast – has surged this year. In most cases sub-Saharan Africans make perilous journeys in rickety boats and drowning is common.
However, the overall numbers of undocumented migrants reaching Europe so far this year remain far below the levels seen in 2015-2016. (Source: BBC)