Social media rumours, economic hardship fuel migrant surge into Ceuta
The last major surge occurred in May 2021, when Moroccan authorities appeared to relax border controls, a move widely interpreted as retaliation for Spain’s hosting of a Western Sahara independence leader.
As 16-year-old Moroccan Ayoub El Abyad scrolled through Instagram videos showing migrants crossing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, he and his cousin, then still a 12-hour drive from the border, decided to try their luck.
Spain’s Congress also recently approved a bill granting Spanish nationality to the descendants of Sahrawis, a move which experts say likely angered Morocco.
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