The Spanish prime minister said today that there was a “violation of Spain’s territorial integrity” in Ceuta in recent hours and blamed the mafias that traffic human beings.
Pedro Sánchez, speaking in Ceuta at a press conference, highlighted a “violation of Spain’s territorial integrity,” particularly on Thursday, when thousands of people crossed the border of the Spanish enclave in Morocco, in North Africa, by swimming, on foot, or jumping fences.
Initial estimates from Spanish authorities pointed to the possibility that 49,000 people had entered Ceuta illegally in the past 24 hours, mainly on Thursday.
Read more about this topic: Spain: What to know about Ceuta as illegal crossings from Morocco surge (with videos)
Sánchez blamed “mafias that traffic human beings” who “deceive many young people” through “a self-serving interpretation” of a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling on repatriations, which “spread like wildfire” in recent days in Morocco and “produced an avalanche with the characteristics and scale” seen at the Ceuta border on Thursday.
The prime minister assured that the Spanish Government mobilized resources and personnel to Ceuta, including military personnel, to restore normality and security in the city.
