While the Spanish Government assures that 96% of the 50,000 people who entered Ceuta on July 30 have already returned to Morocco, the world continues to search for an explanation for a phenomenon as ephemeral as it is unusual. Some of those who return lament that in the city “there was no water or food.” Others have declared to the 'New York Times' that they were encouraged by authorities in their country. The only certainty is that the adventure left 57 dead in the swimming crossing around the Tarajal breakwater.

First modification: 08/01/2026 - 02:24 Last modification: 08/04/2026 - 05:45

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As suddenly as they stampeded to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, in North Africa, tens of thousands of Moroccan migrants have returned to their country, leaving behind the tragedy of at least 57 deaths in the attempt to reach Spain and many questions to be answered.

“Honestly, I don't even know why I came,” declared Reda, one of the young people who jumped into the waters of the Mediterranean to skirt the Tarajal breakwater, the critical point of the border between the kingdom of Morocco and the autonomous Spanish city.

“What we were doing is neither good nor fun, in fact, there were people dying.”

Reda's case is that of many of those who embarked on an adventure for which they themselves try to find an explanation, perhaps to give meaning to the lives lost on the journey.

"Migration is about improving our lives. We agreed to try the idea of ​​crossing and trusting in Allah," Ayoub El Abyad, a 16-year-old teenager, told Reuters. He confessed that he was encouraged to move with his cousin because he saw on Instagram that there were hundreds of people entering Spain from Morocco.

"I have come here in search of a better future," said Dounia Kherradi, a waitress from Lqliaa, a city that was the scene of strong anti-government protests last year. "My salary is not enough to take care of my parents and I have a daughter... may God help us."

One in four Moroccans between 15 and 24 years old does not have education, employment or training, according to official figures.

Read alsoThousands of migrants spend the night outdoors on the border between Morocco and Ceuta

Many of those who dared to cross reported having done so prompted by publications on social networks that spoke of a ruling by the Spanish Supreme Court that paused the expulsions of migrants intercepted at sea.

It was an incomplete interpretation, to say the least, because the ruling does not mean that returns cannot be processed through normal legal procedures. That is why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs classified it as misleading online information.

Now, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, is considering toughening the conditions for repatriation, through a reform of the immigration law.

The horror behind

The sudden abort of the Spanish expedition was not at zero cost. Fifty-seven dead people and a night of horror in the midst of helplessness are part of the balance.

"Sister, don't even try. The Spanish are very mobilized, they don't let anyone in and those of us who managed to get through are returning. Don't even think about coming." The warning was made by a young Moroccan man to a reporter from the EFE agency whom he mistook for a migrant.

Many of those who undertook the voluntary return reported having spent hours outdoors, without assistance of any kind on the other side of the border.

"When we entered Ceuta there was nothing. There was only hunger and suffering; there was no water or food," Ahmed told the EFE agency.

Rachid Sbihi, director of a Ceuta workers' association that represents Civil Guard officers, described the situation in the city as a "serious humanitarian crisis," and reported that thousands of people, including unaccompanied children, were left sleeping in parks and sidewalks, while others wandered the streets aimlessly.

The attempt by several groups to force their way into the Temporary Immigrant Stay Center (CETI) was repelled by agents of the National Police.

"There is nothing at home. I would have to work 12-hour shifts for a miserable salary. That's why I came here," Abdulah Buji, a 21-year-old from Tetouan, told AP. "But I haven't found opportunities here either, so I have to come back."

"I wanted to leave to try to get ahead, but it couldn't be. I went swimming and there wasn't even food there. The police beat people for no reason and they don't treat us well. This hasn't been a good plan," added Amir, a 23-year-old soccer player who now plans to try the adventure again, but "with papers."

Read alsoFollow the search for missing migrants after the crisis in Ceuta

Others witnessed much more extreme situations, such as Ahmed (not his real name), who saw people drown during the swim between Fnideq (Castillejos) and Ceuta.

"We did everything possible, but we couldn't," the man said in conversation with EFE. "We saw people die next to us, I swear to God. They died in the water. When we wanted to save someone, we couldn't do more than we could."

The figures are documented on the Spanish side, but it is unknown how many suffered the same fate on the Moroccan side, such as a person who was seen in images on social networks falling into the void in the middle of a struggle with security forces of the Maghreb country.

Read alsoHistory of Ceuta and Melilla: why are these cities Spanish?

Instrumentalize the immigration tragedy

“Practically all of those who entered Ceuta have already returned to Morocco,” said Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares in a publication in

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Rome has qualified its measure, saying that controls will be enabled only for non-European travelers from Spain, but its position continues to go against the grain of other governments on the continent.

The Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel assured that Lisbon does not consider the Spanish suspension of the Schengen area necessary, the French President Emmanuel Macron pointed out that “Ceuta does not enjoy free movement towards the rest” of that area and the ambassadors of the European Union will meet only on August 3 to address the situation.

Therefore, behind the sudden and ephemeral stampede, more questions than answers continue to float. Pedro Sánchez has criticized the human trafficking mafias as responsible for what happened in Ceuta, but other versions persist amidst uncertainty.

The New York Times reported that in several interviews the migrants reported that Moroccan authorities had encouraged them to cross.

Haizam Amirah-Fernández, director of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies in Madrid, recalled in conversation with the Reuters agency that a recent visit by Sánchez to Algeria (a country historically at odds with Rabat) to seal energy agreements, "was not viewed positively in Rabat."

"One way to handle this is to send a not very subtle message," said Amirah-Fernández, but the Spanish Foreign Ministry has rejected that version, saying that bilateral ties were "excellent and were not affected by our good relationship with Algeria."

Other theories have come into play. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andréi Sibiga made a publication in

Less subtle were the words of US President Donald Trump, who during a cabinet meeting did not hesitate to use what happened in Ceuta to warn that "the same thing is going to happen to us if the Republicans are not elected, but worse," in reference to the upcoming midterm elections.

World right-wing and far-right leaders have taken advantage of what happened in Ceuta to denounce the alleged laxity of Spanish immigration policy and warn about its consequences for Europe.

The truth is that it is not yet possible to draw conclusions, as the spokesman for the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Krzysztof Borowski, warned: "It is too early to give a real explanation of why this increase in migrants occurred, or how it moved so quickly."

Read also"There is no other way out" than Ceuta: the thousands of migrants from Morocco seeking to reach Spain

With EFE, Reuters, AP and local media

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