A migrant surge tests Spain’s open policies

Pedro Sánchez’s left-of-centre government was still occupied with wildfires that have swept the country this month, and was preparing to go on holiday. At first it was slow to react. But with alarm mounting across Europe, it deployed a few troops, promised reinforcements and held frantic talks with Moroccan officials. It promised that all those who had entered illegally would be returned, with Moroccan co-operation. Mr Sánchez flew to Ceuta on July 31st and ordered up more patrol boats, even as the human tide turned. The government says 48,300 people have gone back to Morocco, though deporting the rest may be harder.

The immediate trigger for the surge was a ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court that a law allowing the prompt handing-back of migrants who breach frontier barriers at Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish enclave, does not apply to those who arrive by sea. (Those who swim, the court reasoned, do not technically breach frontier barriers, since there are none in the water.) Word of this got around on social media in Morocco, prompting the stream of swimmers. Many Moroccans and others began to gather in the north of the country.

On July 30th, a public holiday in Morocco, its border guards are reported to have stopped patrolling. That allowed many thousands, including families with children, to simply walk around the breakwater into Spain at the main crossing point. Many then roamed the streets of Ceuta, sleeping on park benches or in the streets. Police say 34 died while swimming.

Spanish officials have diplomatically refrained from blaming Morocco (Mr Sánchez said human-trafficking gangs were responsible). But few think its government is innocent. Relations between the two countries are often tense. In 2021 Morocco allowed some 8,000 people to wade into Ceuta, as an expression of its anger that Spain had allowed the leader of Polisario, a group that has long fought for the independence of Western Sahara, to come to Spain for medical treatment. Morocco annexed two-thirds of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, in 1975; almost all countries regard the annexation as illegal.

In 2022 Mr Sánchez upset Algeria, which sponsors Polisario, by dropping Spain’s traditional support for a referendum on the territory’s future, instead backing a Moroccan plan for its autonomy. In an effort to mend fences, earlier this month he visited Algeria, a big source of Spain’s imported natural gas.

Whether or not Spain manages to resolve the latest migrant crisis, it has highlighted the irritation of many European governments with Mr Sánchez’s relaxed immigration policy. During the migrant influx in 2021 other Europeans displayed solidarity with Spain. The European Commission declared that “Spanish borders are European borders.”

This time the reaction has been different. The commission has offered to send agents from Frontex, its border force. Italy announced that it was suspending Schengen co-operation with Spain, which would mean passport checks on passengers arriving by boat or plane, and its prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has called for suspending Spain from Schengen entirely. (In fact, this cannot be done against Spain’s will.) France’s interior minister said he was tightening controls at his country’s border with Spain. There has been a chorus of complaints from the continent’s populist-right party leaders.

While many other European governments have restricted immigration, Mr Sánchez has welcomed it as boosting economic growth. Earlier this year, he announced an amnesty for irregular migrants. Officials expected this would affect around 500,000 people, but they have received 1.2m applications. Ms Meloni, in particular, has expressed fury that Spain did not consult its partners over a measure which affects the eu as a whole.

Spanish officials insist that the Ceuta inflow was not prompted by the amnesty. But the opposition says it has contributed to a general perception that Spain is a soft touch. Several polls indicate a majority of Spaniards now think there are too many migrants in the country. A general election must take place by next summer. The pictures from Ceuta will not help Mr Sánchez win.