Arabic version: عبور سبتة يشعل انقساماً سياسياً في أوروبا

According to BBC News, most of the tens of thousands of migrants who swam into Spain’s exclave of Ceuta on Thursday have returned to Morocco, escorted to the border by Spanish soldiers and police. At least 72 people died, with bodies pulled from the sea alongside abandoned rubber rings and flippers.

The surge has exposed political divisions in Europe over migration. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez criticised EU figures he said were attacking Spain rather than offering support. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was suspending Italy’s Schengen agreement with Spain, citing a security threat, after her Fratelli d’Italia party circulated images of migrants in Ceuta.

Madrid argues that the crisis has been contained and that Ceuta is not in the Schengen zone, meaning Moroccan migrants could not have travelled unchecked to mainland Europe. Meloni has called for an urgent meeting of interior ministers, backed by almost two dozen EU heads of state seeking to remove policies they describe as “pull factors” to Europe.

Questions remain over what prompted the crossings. Social media posts viewed by migrants claimed that “Spain is Open” and showed people swimming or inside Ceuta, but their promises were false. Those who reached the shore found no food or shelter and no route onwards to continental Europe, and most returned. Spain is extending its border fence out to sea with orange buoys and ship patrols, while EU interior ministers are due to discuss stronger external borders next week.