It all started with Instagram posts suggesting that Spain’s border with Morocco was opening up. Then came Facebook users tracking coastguard patrols and TikTok videos showing where to swim. After numerous posts and comments, thousands of Moroccans became convinced that Europe was suddenly within reach.
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Within hours, young people began heading for the border with the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa. Packed buses were arriving in the neighbouring Moroccan city of Fnideq. Commuter trains filled up. So did taxis.
By the time the authorities reacted, an estimated 60,000 people had reached Ceuta in just a few days, the largest migration wave between Morocco and Spain in years. More than 80 migrants died on both sides of the border, including some who drowned and others who were killed in a crush, according to the authorities.
Almost all of the surviving migrants soon returned, but the consequences of last week’s events will endure.
Rumours began on social media
In the Moroccan city of Larache, some 150 kilometres from Ceuta, three friends watched a video posted by an Instagram account called Haraga Ceuta claiming that the border would be open. Haraga refers in Moroccan dialect to young migrants who destroy their documents and try to cross illegally into Europe. The post convinced Anas Amrani, Yahya Harak and Ismail Atik that it was worth risking the journey.
For migrants hoping to reach Spanish territory, the most common route starts in Fnideq, from where many attempt a five-kilometre swim around the breakwater marking the border. Others set off from the nearby village of Belyounech.
A TikTok video mapped out the exact route swimmers should follow. In Facebook groups such as Fnideq Bab Sebta, users shared screenshots from vessel-tracking platforms to pinpoint moments when coastguard patrols appeared to be fewer in number. Some asked for advice on using inflatable boats. Others advertised wetsuits for sale.
“I saw online that the border was open and decided to go,” said Omar Danbor, 17, from Fnideq, as he trudged back along the coast, exhausted.
It is not clear who was behind the claims that the border was open or who was operating many of the social media accounts, several of which were deleted shortly after the crossings. The Associated Press (AP) contacted several accounts but received no reply.
Chaos on the breakwater
When migrants reached the shores of Ceuta, absolute chaos broke out on the narrow concrete breakwater that many tried to use to come ashore.
According to several migrants interviewed by AP, people surged at the same time onto the slippery rocks, pushing and climbing over one another. Several said they saw people fall into the water and become trapped beneath others, unable to reach the surface as migrants struggled to make it onto land.
“I stepped on the face of a dead man as I was getting out. May God forgive me and all those whose bodies were found,” said Lahcen Kalouch, a Moroccan migrant who reached Ceuta before returning home devastated.
At least 72 people died on the Spanish side of the border. Another 11 died on the Moroccan side.
Tens of thousands of migrants have since returned to Morocco, either after being expelled or after leaving of their own accord because of the lack of shelter, food and water in Ceuta.
Some misinterpreted Spain’s new migration measures
Some migrants misinterpreted the latest legislative changes in Spain, including Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s measures to regularise migrants’ status and a court ruling that limits the authorities’ ability to immediately return migrants who swim to Ceuta.
Sánchez’s recent efforts to regularise migration were intended only for people who were already living in Spain before 1 January, most of whom come from Latin America and entered Spain legally but overstayed their visas. However, some in Morocco misunderstood his policy, believing they would be allowed to stay. That belief spread online.
“Pedro Sánchez is a liar. He told us that if we came, we would get jobs and papers, but they sent us back,” said Adam Assil, a migrant from Casablanca, even though Sánchez never made any such promise.
Although attempts to reach Ceuta are common, migrant advocates noted that this episode was different because of the way rumours spread online, encouraging thousands of people to head for the enclave at the same time rather than in smaller, more scattered groups.
Failures on both sides of the border
Moroccan authorities said the migration wave was not spontaneous. The Interior Ministry blamed “the exploitation of digital space” and “the spread of disinformation”. Officials provided no evidence but said an investigation had been opened. The Spanish government made similar statements.
Officials in Ceuta said they had warned the Spanish government about a rise in arrivals before Thursday’s mass surge. Spain’s Interior Ministry said on Monday it had received “no report or warning about the mass arrival of people in Ceuta”, and praised cooperation with the Moroccan authorities in returning most of the migrants.
“No one has explained how these people managed to get across the border,” said Mustapha Azaitraoui, a Moroccan geographer specialising in migration dynamics. “If a large group of people can cross the border in these circumstances, it suggests a broader security problem that has yet to be acknowledged publicly.“
Migrants reject government’s smuggling claims
Both Morocco and Spain blamed the Ceuta crisis on human traffickers and smuggling networks, saying organised criminal groups had encouraged the mass crossings. However, Moroccan migrants who had returned and were interviewed by AP mostly rejected that explanation.
“No one smuggled me. I chose to go of my own free will, but that country is not worth such sacrifice,” Kalouch said. “There are no mafias. The border was open and I crossed. But now I regret it,” said Danbor, his clothes still wet from the journey back.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said investigations into smuggling networks are ongoing and noted that Spain and Morocco have carried out joint operations against trafficking groups. Morocco’s Interior Ministry did not respond to questions about smuggling networks.
Lack of jobs is a key factor
Morocco’s economy is forecast to grow by 4.5% this year, with large factories, advanced ports and ambitions to become a regional hub for the car industry.
Yet for many young Moroccans, that transformation has not brought stable work. Youth unemployment remains high, with 37% of 15- to 24-year-olds out of work. Among university graduates, joblessness is close to 20%. The dream of emigration is often fuelled by stories of relatives who left and returned with cars, new clothes and foreign currency.
Among those who crossed the border was a 16-year-old who grew up just a few dozen kilometres from Ceuta. Europe had always seemed a dream close enough to see, yet impossibly far away.
So when he saw a Facebook post suggesting that the border was open and that thousands of people were making it across, he joined the rush. Days later he was back on the Moroccan side, crying as he begged strangers for money to pay for a taxi home.
“They fired tear gas at me and beat me with batons. There is nothing there for me,” said the teenager, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being stigmatised after his failed attempt to cross the border. “I just wanted to be able to support my mother,” he said, wiping away his tears.