Thousands of migrants still in Ceuta after border crisis, local leader says

Between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants remain in the Spanish territory of Ceuta following the arrival of many times that number of people last week, the north African exclave’s leader has said.

Juan Jesús Vivas told the European Parliament of his “profound sorrow” over the “irreparable tragedy” of 100 deaths that had occurred after roughly 78,000 migrants from neighbouring Morocco arrived by sea in a matter of hours.

His comments come as new calls for mass crossings circulate on social media, according to Moroccan media.

The crisis has created tensions among EU nations who share open borders and has sparked criticism of the Spanish government.

However the EU Commission has commended Spain’s “swift response” to the crisis, which has included deploying armed forces to Ceuta and its other territory on the north African coast, Melilla.

Vivas, a conservative, was critical of the national government’s response while addressing the European Parliament on Thursday, saying that he had personally told Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez that it had been late and insufficient.

“The fact that we don’t have numbers on how many are still in Ceuta shows how few resources we have to deal with this situation,” Ceuta’s mayor-president said. Previous warnings by local officials of an increase in migrant crossings by sea had been ignored, he said.