The Spanish government reported on Saturday that the death toll associated with the border crisis in Ceuta, involving Morocco, has risen to 67. These fatalities include individuals who drowned and those killed during a stampede attempting to cross a breakwater barrier.
Spain announced plans to install a 500-meter containment barrier along the sea-facing breakwater fence following the breach of the tiny Spanish territory's frontier by approximately 60,000 migrants between Thursday and Friday.
On Saturday morning, soldiers met a small number of exhausted migrants who had swum to Ceuta’s urban Tarajal beach and escorted them back across the border. Spain’s interior ministry stated that most individuals who entered Spanish territory in North Africa have since returned to Morocco.
Following days marked by chaos and streets crowded with people seeking better lives in Spain, residents of Ceuta experienced an uneasy calm on Saturday morning.
Nevertheless, security for the autonomous city's 84,000 inhabitants remained strained.
Ceuta’s President Juan Jesus Vivas commented, “Life in this city has been disrupted as a result of the border incident.” He added, “The return of people has begun satisfactorily but the process must be completed. The city has not yet returned to normal.”
Despite the returns, some determined migrants remained in Ceuta. Mohamed Hatri, a 23-year-old Moroccan among them, stated, “They’ve closed everything down so that we can’t buy anything to eat, to force us to return to our country. But even if they close it down … we’re round to stay here, whether we’re hungry or not.”