More than 1,000 African Migrants Who Stormed Ceuta Could Soon Be Moved To Mainland Spain

Roughly 1,100 unaccompanied migrant minors who rushed the beaches of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta could soon make it to mainland Spain.

The group arrived as unaccompanied minors who authorities can’t immediately deport, according to Reuters. More than 70,000 migrants, mainly adult men from Morocco, arrived in Ceuta within days last week, a city that is part of Spain despite being on the northern coast of Africa. Now, the government of Ceuta is asking Spain’s leaders to let the minors onto the mainland.

“We are crying out for help and assistance,” Ceuta’s local government head, Juan Jesus Vivas, told Spanish broadcaster RTVE on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Many of the migrants have returned to Africa, while the children who came alone remain in limbo, Reuters reported.

Spain’s Interior Ministry attributed the earlier influx to “a court ruling to encourage the flow of undocumented migrants, mostly young people.” Spain’s Supreme Court ruled last month that migrants crossing by sea cannot be immediately deported.

As a result, migrant entries went from a “slow trickle” to “an explosion,” a spokesman for Spain’s Guardia Civil police recently told Reuters.

Spain’s far-Left Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also opened the door earlier this year for more than one million migrants to receive amnesty to counteract “MAGA-style leaders” around the world, according to The New York Times. The Spanish government received more than double the number of applications it initially expected.

With reception centers full, many of the migrant minors still left in Ceuta are sleeping in the streets and inside warehouses, according to Reuters.

In 2025, Spain implemented a reform to its immigration law dictating that unaccompanied migrant minors must be redistributed from territories overwhelmed with migrants within 15 days of the completion of their case file, the outlet reported.

The Spanish government approved $29 million in aid for Ceuta’s migrant minors.

“Inter-territorial solidarity is necessary so these minors end up in other locations where they will be better off,” Miguel Angel Perez, government representative in Ceuta, said on Wednesday. “The law must be upheld.”

Conservative leaders in Europe have taken actions to punish Spain for its handling of illegal immigration since the latest surge. Italy recently suspended passport-free travel with Spain for a month after Ceuta’s latest mass migration incident.