Ceuta, Spain. Spain said migrant crossings into its North African enclave of Ceuta stopped overnight as police began installing a 500-metre floating barrier off the border with Morocco following a mass rush that killed at least 67 people.
About 50,000 people crossed into Ceuta by land and sea from Thursday, according to Spanish authorities, with more than 48,000 returning to Morocco within 48 hours without major incident.
Barrier installation
Civil Guard police began laying the pneumatic barrier at 7.50am on Saturday on the Tarajal breakwater, one of the main crossing points into the Spanish territory, the government said.
The barrier, together with anchored naval buoys, is designed to rise 30 to 70 centimetres above the water and extend up to one metre below the surface. A channel between the barriers will allow Civil Guard vessels to patrol the area.
Reuters footage showed Spanish soldiers and police patrolling a largely empty Tarajal beach in fog on Saturday.
Deaths and returns
Officials said at least 67 bodies had been recovered on the Spanish side of the frontier. Some migrants drowned, while others were crushed as they attempted to climb the breakwater and border fence.
Spanish authorities said many people had been driven to migrate by economic hardship and encouraged by rumours circulated on social media.
Government response
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska blamed people-smuggling networks for exploiting vulnerable migrants and spreading misleading interpretations of a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling.
The ruling concerns migrants intercepted at sea who cannot be summarily returned where there is no physical barrier.
Speaking in Ceuta, Grande-Marlaska said Spain had largely restored order within 24 hours but that the crisis had not formally ended. Reinforced police and military deployments would remain for as long as necessary, he said, adding that overnight crossings had fallen to about zero.
“Morocco isn’t any threat to Ceuta or the rest of Spain – it’s a fully reliable partner,” Grande-Marlaska said. He added that there had been no intelligence indicating that a mass entry was imminent.
