60,000 migrants arrive in Spanish territory in 24 hours

**Valerie Sanderson** (0:00)
This is The Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Valerie Sanderson, and at 15 Hours GMT on Friday the 31st of July, these are our main stories. Spain's Prime Minister and the European Commission have condemned the influx of tens of thousands of migrants from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta. A senior advisor to FIFA's boss quits over plans to sell private stakes in the World Cup amid widespread condemnation of the proposal. Hamas says it's accepted a peace deal for Gaza, which would see it lay down its arms. On condition, Israel withdraws from the territory.
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We begin in the Spanish territory of Ceuta at the northern tip of Africa, which has been overwhelmed by an influx of around 60,000 migrants entering from Morocco. The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, who's traveled there, described the arrival of so many people as an attack on Spain and blamed human traffickers.

**Pedro Sanchez** (1:26)
Ceuta is a Spanish city, and the scenes we saw yesterday I condemn in the most energetic way.
I reject them, I condemn them, I condemn them as deplorable. They were a violation of the territorial integrity of a Spanish city, the Spanish city of Ceuta.

**Valerie Sanderson** (1:48)
Officials say at least 40 people died trying to swim around the border. Those attempting the journey said they felt they had little to lose.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:01)
I was in Tangier where I was working. I woke up that morning and heard several young people, boys and girls, saying that Ceuta had opened at 10 PM.
So I told the people who were with me that we should go to find work. We are already working here under terrible conditions and our rights are not being respected.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:21)
This morning I heard the news and I came here, but I saw hell. We walked 14 kilometres through the mountains, but we told ourselves it didn't matter, as long as the border was open. Once we got here, we were told to take the road to the sea.
Then I found myself completely submerged in water. I was choking. That's when I backed away. I remember that I had two children and I couldn't risk my life.

**Valerie Sanderson** (2:43)
I got more on the situation from our Europe correspondent, Sarah Ainsford.

**Sarah Reinsford** (2:47)
It is quite a significant moment, let's say, in terms of migration policy and migration activity around that border. It is a route that migrants have used previously quite a lot, but the numbers have been always much, much lower, apart from in 2021 when there was a similar situation, but numbers again then much lower. So this does look extraordinarily high. And it seems to be a large number of mainly young men, many of them Moroccan, who have taken this chance to try to cross into EU territory. They've taken quite some risk. I mean, some people are managing to walk around the border fence, but many people are having to swim the distance, and in some cases quite a long distance. And as you mentioned, several people drowned trying to make that crossing from Morocco to Ceuta. So, extraordinary scenes, and the beach there on the Spanish exclave covered in inflatables, rubber rings, floats, flippers, the things that people have used to try to make that crossing as safely as they possibly can. But it does seem to have been a rush to the border like no one has ever seen before. And there are big questions about what exactly prompted it. And also, I think, serious questions about how the Moroccan authorities have been acting and responding in this situation, how active they were in trying to prevent people taking the crossing. But certainly, there appears to be still large numbers of people arriving on the Moroccan coast, hearing that the border is open, which it isn't, of course, but hearing that it is possible to get across and attempting to do that.

**Valerie Sanderson** (4:19)
And I mean, what are the views about what's prompted it? Was it just like a rush, people thinking, it's open, so I'm going to try now?

**Sarah Reinsford** (4:26)
I think a rush, but also I think clearly traffickers using the opportunity as well. I mean, it isn't entirely clear what's happened. There is a diplomatic problem, let's say, between Morocco and Spain right now. Dispute over recognition of who controls the Western Sahara, so a political dispute behind that. That was the reason for a previous migration crisis back in 2021 So I think that's one to look at.