MADRID: Around 1,000 migrants, a third of them minors, managed to reach Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta on Monday, Spanish officials said, adding it was a “record” number in a single day.
A spokesman for the Spanish government delegation in Ceuta told AFP the migrants had reached the enclave by swimming or walking at low tide from beaches in neighbouring Morocco, indicating there were 300 minors among the arrivals.
During the morning, the delegation put the number at 100 arrivals, saying they were mostly young men but also included children and some women who had used inflatable swimming rings and rubber dinghies. Others were able to almost walk there when the tide went out, the spokesman told AFP, with the numbers climbing rapidly throughout the day. After being checked by the Red Cross, the migrants were taken to a migrant reception centre.
Ceuta, together with Melilla — Spain’s other North African enclave — have the European Union’s only land borders with Africa, making them popular entry points for migrants seeking a better life in Europe. Migrants try to reach the enclaves either by swimming along the coast or climbing the tall border fences that separate them from Morocco.
Figures published by Spain’s interior ministry show that between January 1 and May 15, 475 migrants reached Ceuta by land or sea, more than double the 203 that arrived in the same period last year.
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