Tag Archives: Melilla

The land borders between Morocco and Spain’s North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla will reopen next week, Spain said Thursday, after being closed for more than two years due to COVID-19 restrictions and tensions between the two countries. Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters the reopening will start …

Moroccan police thwarted an attempt by several hundred migrants to force their way into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on the northern African coast, officials said Thursday. The large group of men gathered on the Moroccan side of the border after nightfall Wednesday and threw stones at police who moved …

Around 350 migrants tried to scale the fence from Morocco into Spain’s Melilla enclave before dawn on Saturday but none managed to get across, a Spanish government spokesman said. Spanish border forces had been alerted at around 5:30 am by their Moroccan counterparts that “a group of 350 sub-Saharan Africans” …

Dozens of migrants scaled a fence and crossed the border from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Monday, just weeks after a similar crisis that saw thousands cross the frontier and clash with security. Migrants routinely try to enter Melilla and Ceuta, Spanish territories near the Moroccan border …

Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said on Tuesday her government is considering including Ceuta and Melilla, Spain’s enclaves in North Africa, fully in Europe’s passport-free Schengen area. Currently, Moroccans from the towns surrounding the enclaves can enter without a visa but need one to travel by sea or air …

Tensions between Morocco and Spain have escalated, with each side accusing the other of violating good ‘neighborliness’ in a dispute triggered by the Western Sahara territorial issue. Last month, the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta saw an unprecedented influx of migrants crossing from Morocco. That was seen as retaliation …

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described Morocco’s actions during a crisis two weeks ago when thousands of would-be migrants crossed into Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta as unacceptable and an assault on national borders. Asked at a news conference on Monday about comments by the Moroccan foreign minister, who …

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez accused Morocco of failing to protect its borders on Tuesday after thousands of migrants crossed into the North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla last week. “The neighbour (Morocco) needs to control its borders as well, and this did not happen,” Sanchez added. “We’re talking …

The Spanish government has deployed troops to Ceuta to patrol the border with Morocco after thousands of migrants swam into the north African enclave, a source from the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. Soldiers will patrol the border along with Spanish police. “This starts immediately,” the source said, without specifying …

More than 80 migrants swam to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighboring Morocco on Monday, Spanish police said. The migrants, including some minors, set off in the early hours of Monday from beaches a few kilometers south of Ceuta and were detained when they entered the Spanish territory, a …

An African man has been found crammed behind the glove box of a car in a bid to get to Europe — one of four people spotted in vehicles on the same day by authorities in Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla, in North Africa. Three people — including …