Tensions have escalated on the international stage as the White House criticized Spain’s left-wing administration following the collapse of the border between Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta and Morocco on Thursday.
In a statement to Fox News, White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly remarked, “President Trump has consistently cautioned Europe on the repercussions of continuing far-left, globalist policies, particularly those facilitating mass migration.”
Kelly further urged, “Countries like Spain, which have embraced these detrimental ideologies, must swiftly change their course or face severe consequences.”
Amid rising tensions, the president of Ceuta formally requested a national emergency declaration on Thursday as a staggering influx of over 2,000 migrants crossed the border from Morocco in just the past 10 days. The situation has been captured in videos showing migrants flooding into the territory, creating scenes of chaos and confusion.
Footage reveals groups of predominantly military-aged men, some carrying swimming flippers, grinning and posing for the cameras as they run through the streets, while authorities struggle to maintain order and control over the overwhelming crowds.
Migrants run and cheer as they cross on foot into the North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco after swimming over from the Moroccan side and overwhelming police at the city’s breakwater, according to Spain’s Guardia Civil, in Ceuta, Spain, July 30, 2026. (Faro TV via Reuters)
Other footage shows crowds of migrants emerging from the sea, climbing up onto Ceuta’s rocky shores and working their way around border fences.
Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas formally requested that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declare a national emergency to help respond to the border crisis, Spanish media outlets reported. Madrid, however, denied the request.
“The declaration of a national emergency is part of the state civil protection regulations, which do not consider migratory flows as a risk to the National Civil Protection System, nor do they establish special plans, basic guidelines, or specific civil protection instruments for their management. Therefore, it is not possible to activate this mechanism, as requested by the president of the Government of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas,” Spain’s Ministry of the Interior said in a statement, according to Spanish outlet El País.
Ceuta’s government, in its request for a national emergency declaration, noted that immigration from Morocco is always a problem for the Spanish enclave but claimed the last 10 days represented a peak “of particular intensity.” That peak has seen more than 2,000 migrants cross the border in the past 10 days, Ceuta officials said, according to El País.
Spanish and Moroccan maritime patrols, supported by Spain’s Maritime Rescue service, conduct rescue operations off the southern coast of Ceuta after a sharp increase in migrant arrivals to the Spanish enclave in North Africa. (Antonio Sempere/JNA Press/Sipa USA)
“The Government of Spain is fully committed to providing an immediate response to the situation in Ceuta. We are mobilizing all necessary resources, working with Moroccan and international authorities, and preparing the necessary measures to restore normalcy as soon as possible,” Sánchez wrote in a Thursday post on X.
Sánchez has faced considerable backlash from his country’s conservatives for his policies on immigration, with many arguing that Spain’s policy of guaranteeing social services to minors who illegally enter the country incentivizes mass migration.
Migrants cross on foot into the North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco by attempting to swim, according to Spain’s Guardia Civil, near the border with Ceuta, in Fnideq, Morocco, July 30, 2026, in a still image obtained by Reuters (Reuters)
“When they cross the border as minors, you cannot send them back to Morocco,” Javier Negre, a conservative Spanish journalist and owner of La Derecha Diario and UHN Plus, told News Media.
“The Spanish state has to take care of them and pay money to NGOs to care for these minors until they turn 18,” Negre continued.
“It’s proof that Europe and Spain are on the verge of becoming a failed continent because of the future policies and promotion of this illegal invasion under Pedro Sánchez.”
Sánchez, for his part, has claimed that accepting migrants is necessary to keep Spain’s economy alive, arguing the country’s low birth rates necessitate accepting immigrants.
Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, delivers a statement at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain. (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)
“The West needs people. Currently, few of its countries have a rising population growth rate,” Sánchez wrote in a February op-ed in The New York Times.
“Unless they embrace migration, they will experience a sharp demographic decline that will prevent them from keeping their economies and public services afloat. Their gross domestic product will stagnate. Their public healthcare and pension systems will suffer.
“Neither AI nor robots will be able to prevent this outcome. … The only option to avoid decline is to integrate migrants in the most orderly and effective way possible.”
News Media contacted the offices of Sánchez and Vivas for further comment.