Bedingfield to attend urgent EU talks over Ceuta migrant crisis
EU officials called for the meeting after over 60,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta in less than 24 hours
4 August 2026, 1:07pm
Eva Brannon
Eva Brannon
2 min read
Over 60,000 migrants crossed over from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta
Home Affairs Minister Glenn Bedingfield will attend an urgent online meeting for EU interior ministers on Tuesday to discuss the arrival of more than 60,000 migrants who crossed from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta.
In a post on X on Friday, Bedingfield said the events in Ceuta showed that safeguarding the EU’s external borders was "not optional but fundamental."
Events in Ceuta show that safeguarding external borders is not optional but fundamental. Without secure external borders, there can be no credible asylum system, no free movement, & no trust between Member States. EU must have both compassion and control, but control comes first.
— Glenn Bedingfield (@GlenBedingfield) July 31, 2026
"EU must have both compassion and control, but control comes first," he added.
The influx came after a Spanish Supreme Court ruling that migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to reach Ceuta or Melilla, Spain’s other enclave in North Africa, could not be immediately returned to Morocco.
At least 83 people died during the crossings, including 72 on the Spanish side of the border and 11 on the Moroccan side. Some drowned, while others were crushed as they attempted to cross the breakwater marking the border.
The mass crossings had largely stopped by Saturday when Spain installed a 500-metre floating barrier off the coast near its border with Morocco.
READ ALSO | Malta should stand with Sánchez on Ceuta
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said "virtually all" of the migrants had returned to Morocco after the army intervened on Friday. However, several thousand migrants, including hundreds of unaccompanied minors, remained in Ceuta on Monday.
The incident exposed divisions within the EU over migration policy, with leaders from 22 of the bloc’s 27 member states signing an open letter expressing "serious concerns" and calling for emergency talks.
Sánchez requested the meeting after Italy announced that it would temporarily reintroduce checks on arrivals from Spain for one month, while some EU member states called for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen free-movement area.
Ceuta itself is not part of the Schengen area, and EU officials said none of the migrants had reached mainland Spain or another EU member state.
France also tightened checks along its border with Spain and increased the police presence there.
However, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez rejected calls for Spain to leave the Schengen area, describing cooperation with Madrid as strong.
Eva Brannon is a staff reporter at MaltaToday