Ceuta’s police and Guardia Civil are warning of an unprecedented operational crisis as hundreds of migrants continue to reach the city by swimming from Morocco. Local officers describe the situation as worse than the 2021 migration crisis, saying security forces are stretched to their limits and calling for urgent legal and logistical changes. The strain comes as the route into the enclave shifts: Spanish intelligence assessments cited by Moncloa.com recorded almost 13,000 attempted swimming entries in Ceuta during 2025, describing swimming as the principal route for Moroccan migrants seeking irregular entry.
Officers on the ground say the Supreme Court’s ruling on maritime arrivals has sharply increased pressure on local resources. On 29 June 2026, Spain’s Tribunal Supremo ruled that migrants intercepted while swimming toward Ceuta cannot be automatically rejected under the land-border “rejection at the border” procedure. The case concerned an Algerian national intercepted at sea in 2024. The court distinguished swimmers from people who physically cross land barriers such as the border fence. Maritime arrivals must enter the ordinary immigration process, with legal assistance and an interpreter, and the chance to seek international protection before a return. The ruling does not make returns impossible, but it rules out a blanket immediate-return process for people arriving by sea.
The Ministry of the Interior has announced additional personnel and equipment, but agents insist the scale of arrivals cannot be managed simply by adding more staff. Rachid Sbihi, provincial secretary of the Asociación Unificada de la Guardia Civil (AUGC), described roads filled with migrants and said a group of 300 recently broke through police lines after being rescued from the water. He stressed the need for clear, written operational instructions from Madrid and described the situation as critical. More than 25 migrants have drowned in recent days.
Guardia Civil officers form the first line of response at sea and along the breakwater, while the National Police are responsible for registering each arrival and identifying them for potential return or expulsion. Aaron Álamo, secretary of the Sindicato Unificado de Policía (SUP) in Ceuta, reported that the Foreigners’ Brigades are overwhelmed. He compared the current crisis to the 2021 incident, noting that expulsions are now far more difficult because of the ruling. Álamo called for the immediate opening of a Centro de Atención Temporal de Extranjeros (CATE) to provide initial care and identification. He argued that restoring immediate rejection for swimmers would require a change to immigration law, not merely new police instructions.
The SUP has warned that a shortage of staff and resources, alongside a lack of legal tools, will make it nearly impossible to process and return many of the new arrivals promptly. Each interception now requires identification and individual administrative handling, along with legal assistance and interpretation. Arrivals must also have access to international-protection procedures. The union fears this will reinforce the perception that crossing the border irregularly carries few consequences and that deportation is unlikely once people are inside Spanish territory.
The pressure has also reached the administration of cases after rescue and initial reception. The Government of Ceuta, led by President Juan Jesús Vivas, said on 20 October 2026 that it would bring a contentious-administrative action before the Tribunal Supremo over what it described as the central government’s “inactivity” in handling files for adults who entered during the mass arrivals of 30 and 31 July. Ceuta had formally demanded action on 16 September, giving the basic administration one month to issue and notify express decisions. The local government said those affected remained in the city and that it had sought decisions on return or expulsion proceedings, as well as international-protection claims. It said none had been returned to Morocco through an ordinary procedure.
Ceuta’s complaint also concerns the capacity to process cases within statutory deadlines. The city government alleged a “lack of assignment and deployment of the necessary human and material resources” and sought urgent measures requiring the State to provide the means to handle the files. The dispute highlights the operational consequences of the Supreme Court’s ruling: processing maritime arrivals requires individual procedures and safeguards, putting pressure on frontline officers and on the services responsible for identification and legal administration.
Reported figures for the 2026 arrivals have varied. El Confidencial reported that the Department of Homeland Security in the Presidency of the Government put the number of entries on 30 July at 49,000, while the Interior Ministry later recorded 3,835 as of that date. The reported Interior cumulative total was 5,013 on 15 August, then 4,076 two weeks later, and remained at 4,076 after 31 August. The gap between these figures complicates assessments of how many people need reception and case processing.
Other police associations, including Justicia Policial (Jupol) and Justicia para la Guardia Civil (Jucil), have echoed calls for urgent legal reform and new bilateral readmission agreements with countries of origin and transit, especially Morocco. Jupol spokesperson Ibón Domínguez described the situation as a collapse and warned of broader impacts on public safety. Jucil’s Agustín Domínguez said the city is now a “powder keg,” with officers exhausted and unable to control or identify all arrivals. He called for an immediate reinforcement of 400 additional Guardia Civil agents, nearly doubling the current deployment.
The Interior Ministry has responded by sending a sub-group from the Grupos de Reserva y Seguridad (GRS) and an additional patrol boat to support the eight already operating in the area. Officials say all relevant ministries are coordinating their response, while Morocco is cooperating closely. Moroccan security forces are reportedly preventing many attempted crossings. A report by Moncloa.com, citing assessments by former Centro Nacional de Inteligencia director Paz Esteban, also described Interior Ministry instructions contemplating contact with Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Direction Générale de la Surveillance du Territoire over the acceptance of Moroccan nationals after expedited return decisions.
Operational strain on Spain’s security forces is not limited to Ceuta. Nationwide, the Guardia Civil has recently raised concerns about the feasibility of responding to every emergency, including in the context of the DGT’s V16 beacon plan, as traffic patrols are already stretched thin. For more on the challenges facing Spain’s security services, see this report on the difficulties of nationwide emergency response coverage.
Ceuta’s position as a Spanish enclave bordering Morocco has long made it a focal point for migration into Europe. The Supreme Court’s distinction between land-border rejections and maritime arrivals means swimmers must be processed individually under ordinary immigration procedures, increasing the administrative burden. Local authorities are now seeking judicial intervention over case-processing capacity, while police unions call for reinforcements and legal changes. The government’s response will shape whether the current system can manage future arrivals without further deterioration.
