The EU Ceuta Trap: The Crisis No One Orchestrated

On 30 and 31 July, some 60,000 people crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, a Spanish exclave of 84,000 inhabitants on African soil. The crossings were in fact around 50,000 on the first day alone, according to Spain's Interior Ministry. No equivalent period at the height of the 2015 European migration crisis saw anything comparable. At least 72 people died in the attempt, drowned or crushed at the Tarajal pier between the Spanish exclave and Moroccan territory. Madrid deployed the army, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez flew to the territory, and then, almost as quickly as it began, the crisis appeared settled: by the evening of Friday 31 July more than 48,000 had crossed back over the border and returned to Morocco. None is known to have reached the European mainland.