The border emergency in Ceuta led Spanish European Parliament member Juan Carlos Girauta to issue a direct call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“With my greatest admiration and respect for Netanyahu’s life story and courage, I ask Netanyahu to speak out in defense of Spain’s territorial integrity, because the Spanish government is not Spain,” Girauta stated.

The volume of arrivals from Morocco proved hard to track immediately. Spain first estimated nearly 50,000 entries on Thursday, July 30, with the total approaching 60,000 over following days. By Monday, August 3, police sources reported roughly 69,500 returns to Morocco. That count may have overlapped earlier crossings and repeat entries. People arrived via the land border, scaled fences, or swam past the Tarajal breakwater. Ceuta has around 84,000 inhabitants.

José Bentolila, head of Ceuta’s Jewish community, noted residents observed increasing movement toward the city ahead of the main wave. “We had already spent several days seeing an incessant trickle of migrants, morning and afternoon,” Bentolila said.

From workplaces overlooking the Moroccan coast, people spotted what he described as “a line of flotation rings in the water - hundreds of them.” On Wednesday, police recommended closing businesses due to uncertainty over the scale of movement.

Border Overwhelmed, Ceuta Services Collapse

With border controls overrun, much of Ceuta ceased normal operations. Shops shut, bread supplies dwindled, and many residents stayed indoors. Bentolila reported that arrivals stopped vehicles seeking food, cash, or phone access. Police handled clashes, while residents and owners noted thefts, looting, and attempts to enter homes. “Any business that tried to open even a little had perhaps 500 people come in and had to close and call the police,” he said. “You cannot serve 90,000 people all at once.”

By Monday, Ceuta continued dealing with the aftermath. Between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants remained in the city per official figures, with some sleeping outdoors as reception centers reached capacity. Spanish officials took charge of 862 unaccompanied children and teens.

The human cost grew clearer. Spanish authorities recorded 72 deaths on the Spanish side, while Morocco’s Foreign Ministry reported 11 on its side. More than 1,000 people received medical care.

Police and military reinforcements stayed in Ceuta. By August 2, a 500-meter floating barrier was placed off the Tarajal breakwater.

For Ceuta’s Jewish community, the situation brought anxiety without reported antisemitic incidents. Bentolila noted the synagogue and other sites already have discreet police protection as sensitive locations. Shabbat services continued. “People go out with some apprehension, some fear, because they do not know what they will find in the street,” he said. “Suddenly, you may come across a group of 40 or 50 people.”

“We have not had any antisemitic incident,” Bentolila added. “We cannot point in that direction, at least for now.”

The emergency centered on Ceuta, yet the political fallout quickly extended to Madrid, Brussels, and Jerusalem.

Spain Faces Accusations of Hypocrisy Over Immigration Response

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, charged Spain with hypocrisy for sending troops to Ceuta after criticizing Israeli security measures. “Maybe before it continues lecturing us, it’s time it explained to the world why it still maintains colonial enclaves in Africa,” Danon wrote, referencing Ceuta and Melilla.

Israel’s chargé d’affaires in Spain, Dana Erlich, distanced the government from the statement, noting it “does not represent the position of the State of Israel.” Bentolila said it was the sole public Israeli response the community observed. “Of course we would have liked” a message of support, Bentolila said. “That is always welcome.”

Girauta argued Erlich’s clarification failed to reverse the political harm. He said Danon’s remarks supplied ammunition for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s supporters against Vox and other Spanish backers of Israel. Broadcast debates on the border failure soon featured claims that Israel and the United States helped cause the crisis.

Online posts also resurfaced a 2019 comment by Netanyahu’s son Yair referencing Ceuta and Melilla. No evidence has linked Israel to the crossings. “That is the political ammunition they are giving Israel’s enemies in Spain,” Girauta said.

Ángel Mas, president of ACOM, a Spanish group opposing antisemitism and promoting ties with Israel, said Israeli frustration with Sánchez was understandable after years of disputes over the Gaza war. Yet mockery of Ceuta hurt those most ready to support Israel in Spain. “The pro-Israel position in Spain has probably not been this compromised or this weak for a long time,” Mas said. “Who does that help? It helps Sánchez.”

Neither Mas nor Girauta accepted parallels between the border crisis and the October 7, 2023, attack in Israel. “Nothing about this is comparable to October 7,” Girauta said.

The only similarity they noted involved the initial hours after border controls failed, when residents were unsure who had entered or whether authorities controlled nearby streets.

Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish autonomous cities whose residents hold Spanish citizenship. Ceuta has been under Spanish sovereignty since the 17th century, though Morocco claims both and views Spanish administration as colonial.

Mass Crossing Labeled Intentional 'Hybrid Warfare'

Girauta described the mass crossing as “hybrid warfare” and accused Moroccan authorities of permitting or encouraging it. Mas used the same phrase, contending an influx of this size was hard to view as mere loss of control.

Public evidence has not confirmed Morocco organized the influx. Reports citing officials familiar with Spain’s intelligence assessment indicated Rabat did not plan the crossing but permitted it by gradually easing border controls. Morocco denied using migration to penalize Spain and attributed the events to human traffickers, economic hardship, and false online information.

Sánchez visited Algiers 10 days before the largest arrivals. His July 20 meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune concluded with an accord to broaden political cooperation and reconvene senior officials in October. Algeria supplied 42.7 percent of Spain’s natural gas in May.

With Algeria and Morocco engaged in a long regional rivalry, the timing raised questions about Rabat’s intentions. Some analysts and politicians suggested the border crisis might warn against Madrid’s renewed contact with Algiers. No public statements from either government have supported that view.

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska rejected that reading. Even during the crisis, he continued calling Morocco a reliable partner. He blamed smuggling networks for spreading false claims about a Spanish court ruling on summary returns.

Sánchez called the crossing an “attack” and breach of Spain’s territorial integrity, yet thanked Morocco for assisting returns.

Girauta said those stances were hard to reconcile.

Grande-Marlaska also stated Spain’s CNI intelligence service had not alerted him to an imminent mass crossing. Reports of a rift between security agencies later created tension between the interior and defense ministries.

Europe Experiences the Strain

Reaction across Europe came quickly, even though the influx stayed limited to Ceuta. Twenty-two EU governments called for urgent discussions on external border security. Girauta said they responded “with concern, great concern.”

“It is not only Spain’s border; it is Europe’s border,” he said.

Italy temporarily introduced checks on air and sea passengers from Spain, focusing on non-EU travelers.

Sánchez accused European partners of abandoning Spain. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen moved to ease fears of further movement. “Not a single person reached mainland Spain or the rest of the EU,” she said.

Vox MEP Hermann Tertsch expressed no surprise at the Brussels response. “We did not expect much from there,” he said, accusing the European Parliament of repeatedly favoring illegal immigration.

Support instead arrived from conservative and nationalist groups that “reacted immediately and with full solidarity with the Spanish nation and Spain’s national and territorial integrity,” Tertsch said.

He likened the status of Ceuta and Melilla to that of a US state. “For the United States, Hawaii is the United States,” Tertsch said. “The Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands are Spanish. That is simply how things are.”

Israel’s close ties with Morocco added complexity for its Spanish supporters. As the crisis developed, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar congratulated King Mohammed VI on the 27th anniversary of his accession and praised Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita for his commitment to bilateral relations.

Girauta said the timing was difficult to explain without a separate Israeli statement backing Spain’s territorial integrity.

Tertsch made the same point more forcefully. “Attacks on Spanish sovereignty and Spanish territories only benefit Sánchez,” he said, accusing the prime minister of seeking to distance Spain from Washington, Jerusalem, and its “natural allies.”

“We must not make that easier by giving an opening to those who want to present Israel and the United States as enemies that encourage the Islamist invasion of Europe,” Tertsch said.

Mas cautioned Israelis against equating warm government relations with attitudes throughout Moroccan society. “The Moroccan government is friendly. The people are not,” he said. “The Spanish government is not friendly, but the people are not hostile.”

“Many Spanish Jews have their origins in Morocco,” Mas added. “There were 250,000 Jews living in Morocco until 1948.”

Most of Morocco’s Jewish population departed in the decades after Israel’s founding, though estimates of community size and departure timing vary. In contrast, the Jewish communities of Ceuta and Melilla remain part of cities that have long highlighted coexistence among Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Hindus as central to their identity.

Bentolila said Ceuta’s residents largely know one another regardless of religion. “One of the pillars of the city is that it is the city of four cultures,” he said. “We always raise the flag of those four cultures because of the understanding among them.”

By the start of the week, thousands remained in Ceuta, reception facilities were overwhelmed, and residents continued trying to understand how border controls failed so rapidly.

Bentolila declined to involve the Jewish community in the dispute among Spain, Morocco, and Israel. His focus stayed local: safeguarding families, reopening businesses, and upholding the coexistence the city values.