Spain blamed “criminal mafias” for last week’s storming of the border at Ceuta, the city which borders Morocco, but insisted that almost all of the 72,000 migrants who breached the border had been returned to Morocco.
Speaking after an emergency meeting of EU home affairs ministers on Tuesday (4 August), Spain’s interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said about 72,000 migrants entered Ceuta last Thursday and Friday, and that around 70,000 had since returned.
“We are in the process of resolving the legal status of those who remain in Spain, and those who are not entitled to stay will be returned in accordance with Spanish and international law,” he said.
He also described the outcome of Tuesday’s extraordinary meeting as “satisfactory” and said it “served to recognise Spain’s efforts”.
The border storming has caused a major diplomatic row, with Italy, Finland and Denmark calling for Spain’s membership of the Schengen free movement area to be suspended.
