The July 30 and 31 migrant surges in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the north African coast, saw tens of thousands of Moroccans swim and jump over fences to enter Europe. Police forces were overwhelmed and led to over 100 arrests, at least 141 deaths and a talking point in Europe. While nearly 50,000 have returned or were sent back to Morocco, thousands, including minors, remain in Ceuta.
US President Donald Trump has taken a swipe at Spain again, and this time it’s for the European nation’s handling of the Ceuta migrant crisis. Thousands of Moroccan migrants swam into the Spanish enclave in north Africa in July, leading to hundreds of arrests and more than 140 deaths. While most of them have voluntarily returned, thousands remain in Ceuta, thus being a political talking point in Europe.
Calling the surge of migrants an “invasion of a country”, Trump warned that Spain will be destroyed. “Spain will be a ruined country,” he told GB News during a sit-down interview.
The 80-year-old President further said that the crisis is worse than a military invasion. “You know, you don’t have thousands of people just bum rushing your country. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Comparing the situation with the UK, Trump said that the country is also facing its own migrant problems though “not as visible as that (Ceuta)”.
Ceuta has been witnessing a rush of migrants for years, but the one on July 30 and 31 was unprecedented. At least 60,000 migrants entered the tiny Spanish enclave by swimming and climbing fences, overwhelming the border security personnel. Visuals flooded social media showing migrants pouring towards Ceuta is massive numbers. By July 31 afternoon, however, nearly 50,000 migrants either returned or were sent back to Morocco, according to Spanish authorities. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez-headed Spanish government said around 5,000 remain in Ceuta, including over 1,000 minors. Meanwhile, Ceuta’s local government had put the number higher at 9,000.
While some reports pointed to alleged Moroccan permissiveness during border crossings, Sanchez absolved the country of any involvement. But the Spanish PM has been facing rising pressure both in Parliament as well as from citizens, which is a concern given he will face general elections next year. Spaniards have been taking to streets in large numbers, protesting and calling for the socialist leader’s resignation over his handling of the Ceuta migrant crisis.
Meanwhile, Spain’s ties with Italy became volatile as Rome enforced checks on Spanish visitors and Madrid countered with the same in a tit-for-tat move. Both are Schengen nations.
Madrid’s ties with Washington have also degraded in the past few months as Sanchez has been at loggerheads with Trump. First, Spain refused to allow the US to use their bases for launching strikes against Iran. Then, at the 2025 Nato Summit in The Hague, Spain refused to spend the Trump-set target of 5 per cent of GDP on the alliance’s defence by 2035. The alliance’s 32 members largely agreed to the numbers. Sanchez said that the current Nato target of 2 per cent, which Spain meets, was enough and raising it would be both “unreasonable and counterproductive”.
During the sit-down with GB News, Trump made sure to talk about his grievances with the European nation. “I’ve had my own problems with Spain because Spain doesn’t behave very well with respect to Nato.”
