Spain and Morocco will discuss Ceuta in New York this week. The talks will cover migrant returns, people still in the city and online calls for another mass entry attempt before 23 September.
José Manuel Albares and Nasser Bourita will meet in New York this week. Ceuta will be at the centre of their talks. The Spanish and Moroccan foreign ministers are expected to discuss the return of irregular migrants still in the autonomous city after the mass entry on 30 July. They will also address new social media calls for a similar attempt.
The meeting will take place on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. According to EFE, it is meant to deal with the planned returns and the risk of another influx. Spanish authorities are watching calls for mass entries into Ceuta and Melilla around the elections scheduled for 23 September.
The current Ceuta discussions follow the mass entry of migrants on 30 July, which remains the immediate background to the planned Albares–Bourita meeting in New York.
Madrid says contact with Rabat is continuous. Some Spanish accounts describe it as almost daily. Albares said the two governments are following the online appeals. He also said Morocco had promised to take measures to prevent another mass entry on 23 September, when elections are due to take place in Morocco.
Spanish officials are also trying to counter what they describe as false information about what an irregular entry into either city can provide.
Albares's message was direct. Reaching Ceuta or Melilla irregularly does not grant access to Europe. It does not give people the right to remain in Spain or freedom of movement across the European Union. Albares warned that people who respond to the calls could risk their money, their future and their lives. Spain has repeated the warning through diplomatic channels, including communications linked to its embassy and consulates.
The Spanish government is also seeking help from the Moroccan press. It wants to circulate information from Spain's embassy and consulates and reduce support for the appeals spreading online. The effort to stop a new entry is taking place alongside an administrative operation to reduce the number of migrants already in Ceuta.
The treatment of unaccompanied minors differs from the policy applied to most adult migrants. European and Spanish reporting says that most of the roughly 2,000 unaccompanied minors who arrived in Ceuta will not be returned to Morocco.
The diplomatic meeting comes as Ceuta has already become the focus of earlier Ceuta coverage. The current issue is the possibility of new arrivals and the fate of migrants already in the city without regular status. Estimates of those still present differ sharply. Some government-linked accounts put the number at just over 3,000. Other reports give a figure of approximately 9,000 to 10,000. The exact total depends on the source and when it was recorded.
Albares said Bourita has repeatedly expressed Morocco's willingness to cooperate on returns. According to the Spanish minister, people who have already been sent back are returning to Morocco. That position also appears in an official Moroccan communiqué and in information provided to European Union authorities.
Spanish authorities report continuing voluntary returns at a rate of roughly 150 to 200 people a day. By the middle of September, open official and agency summaries cited more than 5,300 such returns, along with hundreds of administrative expulsions.
That is the clearest practical issue before the New York meeting. Spain is linking border monitoring with returns and public information. Morocco is being treated as a necessary partner in both areas. The immediate task is to stop online appeals from turning into dangerous journeys and keep the return process moving through official cooperation.
The government's position is clear. The New York talks are meant to manage a specific pressure point, not announce a new migration policy. Ceuta remains the main subject. The 23 September date gives the online calls a set deadline, while the return of migrants gives the discussions a concrete administrative task.
Albares's warning rejects the idea that irregular entry offers a route into Europe. Based on the information available, Madrid's strategy relies on two tools: coordination with Rabat and communication through Moroccan media. The meeting matters because of its immediate border-management purpose and the cooperation described by the minister.
