The number ‌of people who died on Thursday trying ‌to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta ​in North Africa rose to 18, as migrants rushed by sea and ​land from Morocco, a Spanish interior ministry ⁠spokesperson said on Friday.Spanish state television ‌TVE ‌said ​between 2,000 and 3,000 people crossed into Ceuta ⁠on Thursday. ​Most of those ​who succeeded in crossing appeared ‌to have done so ​before midday, according to residents of ⁠the Moroccan ⁠city ​of Fnideq.Spain sent military and police reinforcements to Ceuta on Thursday after the surge.Ceuta, along with Melilla, another Spanish autonomous city in northern ‌Morocco, represents ⁠the European Union’s only land border with Africa. Both cities ‌periodically experience surges in attempted crossings by ​migrants seeking to ​reach Europe.Videos shot at Tarajal beach on Thursday showed crowds of people walking around the breakwaters and running on the beach and roads.Most appeared to be young men, but there were also families with women and children. “Viva España!” some shouted to a freelance photographer working for the Associated Press, who was filming the scene.A spokesperson for the Guardia Civil force, which polices Spain’s borders, said ⁠the migrants were “massively entering from the sea” through the Tarajal breakwater but could not provide an estimate of the numbers.“The situation is absolute chaos,” said Rachid Sbihi, the head of the association that represents Guardia Civil officers in Ceuta. “It’s not possible to give precise numbers, but there are thousands of migrants crossing.” He added the border had “totally collapsed”.Migrants reaching the shore of Ceuta. Photograph: Lucía Diaz/AFP via Getty Images Achraf Maimouni, a member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, described the situation as “exceptional”. He said the Tarajal border had been opened “under unusual circumstances” on Thursday morning and people had crossed over.Juan Jesús Vivas, the president of Ceuta, demanded the deployment of additional police and troops “to guarantee the inviolability of the frontier” and citizens’ safety. He also called on the central government to declare a national emergency over the crossings.[ Spain sends extra troops to Ceuta after thousands of people swim into territoryOpens in new window ]Vivas had said on Wednesday that migrant reception centres were overwhelmed, with hundreds of people sleeping on the streets. He said Ceuta needed “more resources, more infrastructure, more regulation and effective co-ordination between all the administrations”.“We’re not looking for privileges; we’re looking for a fair and responsible solution in line with our reality,” he added.Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is due to travel to Ceuta on Friday with the interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska.Sánchez said his government would provide “an immediate response” to the situation in Ceuta, which echoes the border crisis in 2021 when more than 8,000 people arrived in just two days.Migrants swim in the sea to reach a beach in Ceuta. Photograph: Lucía Diaz/AFP via Getty Images “We’re mobilising all necessary resources, working with Moroccan and international authorities, and preparing the necessary measures to restore normality as soon as possible,” he said in a post on X. “I just conveyed this to president Vivas. This is the moment to build solutions, with responsibility and co-operation.”This month ​Spain’s supreme court ruled that migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to reach Ceuta – or Spain’s other north African territory of Melilla – could not be summarily returned under the enclaves’ special border rejection regime.The Guardia Civil spokesperson told Reuters: “It has been a slow trickle since the supreme court’s ruling, but today has been an explosion.”Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the conservative opposition People’s party, to which Vivas belongs, said the situation was desperate. “The government can’t look the other way,” he added, “because we are facing a national security crisis.”Santiago Abascal, who leads the far-right Vox party, described the incident as an “invasion” and said those crossing into Ceuta were not fleeing war or poverty but had been summoned by Sánchez’s government to ensure he could remain in power.Moroccan government sources attributed the surge to “criminal organisations” and said its co-operation with Spain remained “exemplary”.The mass crossing into Ceuta in May 2021 came amid heightened tensions between Madrid and Rabat over Spain’s decision to allow a Western Sahara independence leader to be treated for Covid-19 in Spain. Speaking at the time, Sánchez hinted at a link between the sudden relaxing of border controls and the diplomatic tensions.“As the president of Spain, I believe firmly that Morocco is a partner country, it’s a country that is a friend of Spain and it should continue this way,” he said. “To be effective, this co-operation needs to always be based on respect. Respect for mutual borders.” – Reuters, The Guardian [ European wildfires in graphics: France and Spain battle blazes as another heatwave approachesOpens in new window ]