Archive · 2 Aug 2026
EU Leaders Criticise Spain Over Ceuta Migration Crisis
Spain’s Ceuta region saw a big wave of about 50,000 people from Morocco who entered without permission.
Spain said it would let some of them stay legally, but many EU leaders said this encourages more illegal crossings.
They wrote a letter asking Spain to stop the scheme.
Spain replied that the scheme only helps people who already lived in Spain for a long time.
The disagreement shows how hard it is to manage migration in the EU.
22 EU leaders wrote a letter criticizing Spain’s migrant regularisation scheme as a pull factor.
Spain defended the scheme, saying it only applies to those who lived in Spain before 2026 and for five months.
The crisis involved about 50,000 unauthorized migrants from Morocco entering Ceuta.
EU leaders called for stronger border controls and warned against allowing illegal entry to become legal.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez accused EU leaders of being selfish and threatened to exclude Spain from the Schengen Area.
- Who
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and 22 EU leaders
- What
- Dispute over Spain’s migrant regularisation scheme and the Ceuta crisis
- When
- June 2024
- Where
- Ceuta, Spanish exclave in North Africa
- Why
- EU leaders claim the scheme fuels illegal migration; Spain argues it is not applicable to those who entered illegally
- Event
- Ceuta migration crisis
- Key Figures
- Pedro Sánchez, Friedrich Merz, Giorgia Meloni
- Migrants
- ≈50,000 unauthorized migrants
- Regularisation Scheme
- Up to 1.2 million migrants
- EU Response
- Letter to EU leaders
- Spain Response
- Defended regularisation conditions