One migrant told Reuters news agency that he was returning to Morocco, adding:
“It’s not good at all, and it’s not fun either.
“I mean, people are dying here. I beg you, please, if you haven’t come yet, don’t come. Don’t do it.”
Local media reported chaos on the streets of Ceuta since Thursday, with one resident telling Spain’s ABC that people are scared.
“Nobody is going out on the street. They’re afraid.
“This is stronger and more aggressive than what we’ve experienced before,” a hospital security guard told the Spanish site.
Another person who spoke to the outlet said the people crossing into the territory were not “poor or needy”.
“They are coming to Spain to abuse the system,” he said.
Yassine, a 24-year-old migrant, told the outlet he could not go back to Morocco.
“I have nothing there, Morocco is death,” he added.
The sudden influx of people on Thursday followed several days with an increase in arrivals swimming into Ceuta. It appears that word of their success spread quickly.
The last time there was a surge in arrivals – though on nowhere near this scale – was in 2021. At that point, the Moroccan authorities allowed some 8,000 people to cross the border following a dispute with Madrid over the sovereignty of the Western Sahara.
That diplomatic dispute has flared again recently, after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez travelled to Algeria which backs independence for the region.
Spain’s interior ministry said it was working with Morocco to ensure the return of all who crossed illegally into its territory “as soon as possible”.
Sánchez is set to visit Ceuta later on Friday.
