Many believe that a picture is worth a thousand words. And the live footage of migrants rushing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa last week were widely seen in mainland Europe as evidence that their governments’ immigration and border controls were failing and that the doors of Europe were about to be breached. No doubt, any large number of people — in Ceuta they were in their tens of thousands — could overwhelm any border crossing point.

The country has spent recent years recasting itself as a place that embraces migration and diversity while much of Europe talks about walls and defence.

Dr Myriam Cherti told the Daily Mail the video posted on Facebook days before 60,000 migrants entered Ceuta was a 'showcase for your peers'.