The Spanish government confirmed on Saturday that 67 people died during a mass crossing of its North African enclave of Ceuta, as authorities began installing a 500-metre floating barrier on the Tarajal breakwater to prevent further entries. The interior ministry said an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 migrants had breached the frontier from Morocco by land and sea since Thursday, in what officials described as an unprecedented surge at one of the European Union’s only land borders with Africa. More than 48,000 of those who entered had already returned to Morocco within 48 hours, according to Madrid, while the Civil Guard continued searching for bodies along the breakwater where some victims drowned and others were crushed in a stampede.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, speaking from Ceuta, said the situation had been largely reversed within 24 hours but cautioned that the crisis was not formally over. He blamed people-smuggling networks for exploiting vulnerable migrants and spreading misleading interpretations of a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling on maritime returns. Grande-Marlaska defended Rabat as a “fully reliable partner” and said there had been no intelligence indicating a mass entry was imminent. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who visited the enclave on Friday, described the crossings as a violation of Spanish sovereignty and, in a letter to EU leaders, denounced as “selfish, polarising and unlawful” the reactions of some member states, notably Italy’s decision to suspend Schengen arrangements with Spain for one month.

Twenty-two EU governments called on Saturday for an emergency meeting of interior ministers, urging the bloc to help Madrid regain control of its external frontier and to review cooperation with Morocco. France, Luxembourg and Portugal did not sign the letter, alongside Spain and Ireland, which holds the rotating EU presidency. France separately tightened checks on its border with Spain, while Italy’s right-wing government announced the one-month Schengen suspension. Sánchez, while also requesting an urgent ministerial meeting, criticised those who had sought Spain’s exclusion from the passport-free zone, arguing that such moves ran counter to European solidarity and long-term interests.

In Ceuta, regional president Juan Jesús Vivas said the city of 84,000 inhabitants had not yet returned to normal, a more cautious assessment than the minister’s claim that normality was being reached. Some migrants, like 23-year-old Moroccan Mohamed Hatri, remained determined to stay despite closed shops and lack of food. Others, such as Senegalese national Souleil Boyan, said they had hoped to find work in Europe but were now waiting in overwhelmed reception centres. Analysts note that Morocco has not issued an official statement on the surge, and some observers point to a possible link with diplomatic friction following Sánchez’s recent visit to Algeria, though no direct evidence has been presented. The floating barrier, a pneumatic structure rising 30 to 70 centimetres above the water and extending one metre below, is now in place, while returns continue under police and military supervision and the EU debates a coordinated response.