Overview
- A mass crossing on 30–31 July saw an estimated 70,000–80,000 people enter Ceuta, creating an immediate humanitarian and administrative crisis that still strains local services.
- Madrid says 7,533 people have returned to Morocco since early August, with 7,099 voluntary returns and 364 expulsions, while thousands remain in Ceuta including about 2,283 registered minors.
- Foreign ministers José Manuel Albares and Nasser Bourita met in New York and Morocco reiterated its 'plena colaboración' to facilitate returns, but offered no timetable for large-scale repatriations.
- Spanish officials and Moroccan statements say slow progress reflects Spain's procedural safeguards for asylum seekers and children plus Ceuta's tiny ordinary capacity for unaccompanied minors, prompting limited transfers of the most unreturnable children to the mainland under Spanish law.
- The situation is testing Madrid's balance between pressing Rabat for border control, seeking extended Frontex and EU support, and continuing internal investigations and counting to prevent future mass attempts.