Sanchez Defends Ceuta Response After 72,000 Migrants Surge, as 22 EU Leaders Blame Court Ruling
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 4
Sanchez Defends Ceuta Response After 72,000 Migrants Surge, as 22 EU Leaders Blame Court Ruling
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 4
Summary
72,000 migrants reached or tried to reach Ceuta last Thursday and Friday, leaving more than 80 dead and triggering a humanitarian crisis that put Pedro Sanchez under heavy EU pressure.
A July Spanish Supreme Court ruling barring summary deportations for migrants arriving by sea became the main flashpoint, with Sanchez saying smugglers distorted it to lure people to swim around Ceuta’s border fence.
22 EU leaders signed a joint letter calling the ruling the trigger for an attack on Europe’s asylum system, while Italy’s Giorgia Meloni announced tighter air and sea controls with Spain.
Sanchez rejected the criticism as politically motivated, said most migrants were pushed back within hours with Moroccan coordination, and argued Italy has taken in 478,000 migrants since 2021 versus Spain’s 234,000.
The clash exposed wider EU divisions over migration even as Frontex says illegal crossings into the bloc fell 37% to about 49,000 in the first half of 2026.