Moroccan authorities announced they had foiled an attempt on Saturday by hundreds of migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, to illegally cross the border to reach Ceuta. According to what was reconstructed, people had gathered on the outskirts of the border town of Fnidq (known in Spanish as Castillejos), in a mountainous area.
According to sources, Moroccan agents attempted to disperse the migrants, who nevertheless remained in the area. Checkpoints are active on the main roads leading to Fnidq, while surveillance operations near the Ceuta border have been strengthened – both by land and sea – with the use of Royal Moroccan Navy patrol boats and drones.
A seventeen-year-old migrant told the Spanish agency Efe that she arrived in Fnidq from Tetouan during the night. He said he was traveling on a bus that was stopped three times by Moroccan security forces along the approximately 35 kilometer route between the two locations.
Calls on social media for another mass exodus
The Spanish 007s have been monitoring Facebook groups, WhatsApp and TikTok profiles for days, after an appeal to attempt another exodus on August 15th went viral on social media. And messages and false information continue to circulate on the platforms about alleged flaws in border controls. To deal with any attempts at irregular entry, the Spanish government has deployed “all the necessary resources” since the secret services believe it is “fully credible” that a new attempt at entry into the exclave of Madrid on the North African coast really occurs.