As migrants continue to reach Ceuta, Spanish pushback hardens

Madrid ups border security in the North African enclave, returns thousands to Morocco, and fires tear gas into the buffer zone.

In a bid to prevent more people’s arrival in Ceuta, Spain has upped security along its shared border with Morocco, fired tear gas into the buffer zone between the countries, and returned people who have managed to cross into its enclave in North Africa. More than 8,000 people – mostly men, but also some women and children – entered Ceuta on Monday and Tuesday after swimming around a breakwater that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, or climbing over the border fence that separates the Spanish territory from Morocco. More people arrived on Wednesday, although in far lower numbers, after both countries moved to stem crossings.