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The Real Story Behind the Human Wave That Entered Ceuta

Did the Israeli and US hostility toward Spain embolden Morocco to think it could get away with creating a border control crisis?

Tens of thousands of Moroccans and others entered the small city of Ceuta, Spain, on Thursday, July 30, 2026.

What prompted the scenes this past week of 50,000 Moroccans and others streaming into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta is more complicated than it seems. Ceuta is one of two Spanish presidios on the north coast of Morocco that have been inhabited by Spaniards for centuries and, like the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, are recognized Spanish territories. Being the only part of the European Union with a land border with an African nation, it has long been a destination for migrants desperate to cross that heavily fortified international boundary.

The human wave that entered Ceuta, including the dozens who drowned trying to get around the border fence sticking out into the sea, were not such desperate refugees, however. Video footage indicates that virtually none of them were carrying bags or other personal belongings. There are also videos showing truckloads of young men, apparently organized by the Moroccan government, being ferried to the edge of Ceuta, as well as scenes of Moroccan border guards waving them through. It even appears that Moroccan intelligence agents were among the crowd in an apparent effort to get a better sense of border security and the Spanish response. Indeed, having tens of thousands of people simultaneously appear at the frontier undoubtedly required major logistical support.

This provocation appears to have been designed by the Moroccan regime to embarrass Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in response to his efforts to warm relations with Morocco’s longtime geopolitical rival Algeria, a key supplier of natural gas made scarce as a result of the Ukraine and Iran wars and whose president he met with the previous week. The Moroccans orchestrated a similar cross-border influx in 2021 in retaliation for Spain’s allowing Western Sahara President Brahim Ghali, whose nation Morocco claims for itself, into the country for medical treatment.

Perhaps not coincidentally, this comes at a time when the American and Israeli governments have been furious at Spain’s Socialist government over its support for Palestinian rights and opposition to the Iran War.

Trump has labeled Spain as “hopeless,” with “bad people,” in response to Sanchez’s not increasing the country’s military budget as much as he demanded and, in particular, Madrid’s refusal to allow US military bases on Spanish territory to be used in the war on Iran or to allow overflight by US military aircraft. Last........

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