FIRES BREAK OUT IN MOROCCAN TOWN AS THOUSANDS CROSS INTO SPANISH TERRITORY

Multiple fires erupted in Beni-Enzar, a Moroccan port town near the Spanish autonomous city of Melilla, after thousands of migrants crossed a border crossing on Thursday, 30 July. Local news outlet El Faro de Melilla reported that the fires were the result of arson. Videos and images circulating on social media showed crowds of people moving along breakwaters at an urban beach near a border checkpoint between Ceuta, another Spanish territory, and Morocco. Vehicles were ablaze on Moroccan soil.

The government of Ceuta stated on Thursday, 30 July that between 1,500 and 2,000 people had entered over the preceding ten days, with hundreds more estimated to have arrived on that day alone. Rachid Sbihi, head of the association representing Spain's Civil Guard officers policing the border in Ceuta, described the situation as "absolute chaos" and stated that the border had "totally collapsed". Ceuta and Melilla are autonomous Spanish cities located on the northern Mediterranean coast and represent the European Union's only land borders with Africa. Morocco does not officially recognise either territory as Spanish, frequently referring to them as occupied lands.

Local authorities in Ceuta appealed to the central government in Madrid for additional support to manage the border situation. Spain's Interior Ministry rejected calls to declare a national emergency, stating that such a measure does not encompass migration crises. The ministry subsequently announced that the armed forces would deploy 60 troops to bolster the border.