The mayor-president of Ceuta, Juan Jesus Vivas, said 60,000 people rushed over the border. The Spanish Interior Ministry claimed almost all the arrivals had returned.

Videos of migrants pouring into Spain’s Ceuta territory have gone viral on X, prompting criticism from Elon Musk and European politicians critical of migration.

Extraordinary footage showed huge numbers of people sprinting up beaches, swimming ashore and dispersing into the streets of the tiny Spanish territory of Ceuta.