The influx of migrants in Ceuta, Spain, in late July began as a small stream of individuals, but soon grew from a few dozen to tens of thousands, Reuters reports.
The migrants were inspired by a few videos that went viral online, some of which were published by Spanish media outlets to highlight the burden of migration. According to official figures, more than 80 people have died trying to reach Ceuta from Morocco.
The events began three weeks ago, when Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that migrants caught at sea trying to reach Spanish territories in North Africa cannot be forced to turn back. However, legal experts have pointed out that this does not prevent migrants from being returned to Morocco immediately after they reach the shore.
Ceuta has long attracted migrants hoping to reach Europe. As the misinterpreted court ruling (i.e. migrants who have reached Ceuta by sea or land cannot be returned to Morocco) spread, more and more people tried their luck. A young Moroccan posted a video filmed in Germany on social media, in which he said that no one should believe those who say that after entering Ceuta they will be sent back, because this will not happen.
The video was soon deleted, but was later reposted by other accounts.
Several posts on Meta-owned social media platforms since the 7th of July, including one with more than 28,000 likes, falsely claimed that Spain’s existing system of regulating illegal immigrants would expire on the 30th of July. Similar posts also circulated on the morning of the 30th of July. In fact, illegal immigrants who had spent at least five months in Spain before the end of 2025 could apply for asylum between April and the 30th of June. The government received almost twice as many as the planned 500,000 applications and did not extend the application period.
Most of the social media posts urging people to rush to Ceuta have been deleted, and it is not clear when they were published. In 2024, Morocco convicted a number of people who had incited mass border crossings online.
According to a report by Ceuta’s local media outlet El Faro de Ceuta, around 100 migrants had entered Spanish territory by the 23rd of July, which the outlet linked to the Supreme Court’s decision. This was later echoed by Spanish and Moroccan officials, who accused people smuggling networks of spreading disinformation on social media about the ruling. An online video by El Faro de Ceuta, showing young men with thumbs up and victory signs, inadvertently encouraged people to cross the border, and hundreds of migrants began swimming towards Ceuta.
The next wave followed on the 28th of July,
when El Faro de Ceuta published a piece titled “Ceuta can’t take it anymore,” showing two smiling, wet women walking down the street after crossing the border. The video was reportedly shown widely in Morocco.
The following day, social media was flooded with videos showing influencers with tens of thousands of followers swimming to Ceuta. Mounim Belhaj, a dog groomer with 31,000 Instagram followers, said he decided to cross the border after seeing a video of migrants being held at a Ceuta asylum center. He said the Spanish media had been good to the migrants, which had encouraged them to go to Ceuta.
Misleading videos were also posted on social media, including some filmed elsewhere.
In total, more than 70,000 people have entered Spain illegally.
Group chats also played a role in the incident. Spanish security analysts have identified two public WhatsApp groups run by people with Algerian phone numbers. They had around 3,700 members in total and provided advice on how to get to Ceuta. The chats urged participants to act quickly, warning that those who did not would regret their delay the next day.
Hunger and hostility later forced most to return to Morocco. Thousands more migrants are stranded in Ceuta, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa and unaccompanied minors. Belhaj said it had been a mistake to go to Ceuta. There is only hunger.
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