Ceuta Leader Demands EU Action on Morocco Border Crisis

The president of Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta has urged the European Union to adopt a firmer stance against Morocco, citing a "policy of harassment" and the overwhelming strain on the city following a mass migrant crossing in late July. Juan Jesús Vivas, speaking in Brussels, requested stronger EU border support, including permanent involvement from the bloc's border agency Frontex and the European Union Agency for Asylum. More than 70,000 migrants crossed into Ceuta from Morocco on July 30 and 31, an unprecedented influx that has left the city struggling to cope. Official figures from Spain's interior ministry placed the number around 72,000, though some local officials and reports have cited figures closer to 80,000. The human cost was significant, with reports indicating at least 83 deaths on the Spanish side and higher totals, up to 145, when including bodies recovered in Moroccan waters. Vivas described Ceuta as a "pressure cooker" on the verge of collapse, with security, public services, the economy, and community relations severely strained.