In footage released by Spain's Ministry of the Interior on Friday (July 31) migrants can be seen crossing the border from Spain into Morocco at Tarajal border crossing, Reuters reports.
Spain and Morocco reinforced the border fence of the Spanish enclave, Ceuta, on Friday and appeared to have largely halted mass crossings after tens of thousands of people arrived by sea and land in a day, with at least 19 dead bodies found in the water.
According to the Spanish interior ministry, approximately 50 thousand people had crossed the border into Spain since Thursday (July 30) and about 25 thousand people had crossed back into Morocco by 1 p.m. local on Friday (July 31).
Spanish authorities said they would try to expel those who had entered illegally as quickly as possible, despite a court ruling that put some restrictions on special "border rejection" rules that allow immediate expulsions from the enclave.
Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish autonomous city in northern Morocco, have the European Union's only land borders with Africa. The two cities, each home to around 85,000 people, both periodically experience surges in attempted crossings by migrants seeking to reach Europe, but the scale of Thursday (July 30)'s rush had little precedent.
