More than 48,000 migrants have now returned to Morocco from Spain’s Ceuta as the Spanish government assures that the integrity of the Schengen area is ‘absolutely guaranteed’.
Spain said Friday that the integrity of the Schengen free-travel area was “guaranteed” after a surge of migrant arrivals in its north African enclave of Ceuta prompted Italy to announce temporary border controls with Spain.
“Practically the entirety of those who entered Ceuta have already returned to Morocco,” Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in a message on X, accusing critics of spreading “confusion”.
Albares said people could not travel from Ceuta or neighbouring Melilla to mainland Spain without passing through police identification checks.
“The integrity of the Schengen Area is absolutely guaranteed,” he added.
La práctica totalidad de quienes entraron en Ceuta han vuelto ya a Marruecos.
No es posible trasladarse de Ceuta y Melilla a la Peninsula sin identificarse en un control de policía. La integridad del espacio Schengen está absolutamente garantizada. Basta de confusión interesada
— José Manuel Albares (@jmalbares) July 31, 2026
READ ALSO: How a rumour sparked Moroccan migrant rush to Spain’s Ceuta
Earlier on Friday, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Rome had temporarily suspended its Schengen arrangement with Spain, describing the move as “a necessary decision to protect the security of our citizens and defend Europe’s borders”.
READ ALSO: Italy and Denmark say Spain should be suspended from Schengen zone
This comes as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, under fire from some of his peers in the EU over an influx of migrants into Ceuta, said Friday “this is not the time to divide”.
“It is the time to continue building a strong and united EU,” he added in a post on X that included statistics on the number of irregular entries into other parts of Europe.
La solidaridad y la empatía son opcionales.
El respeto a los tratados europeos y a los datos, no.
👇🏼Número de entradas irregulares entre 2021 y 2026 según Frontex:
Por Italia: 478.600
Por los Balcanes occidentales: 340.600
Por Grecia: 259.800
Por España: 234.760
Por la…
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) July 31, 2026
In response to the calls from other EU countries to temporarily suspend Spain from the Schengen area, Sánchez pointed to figures from Frontex, the EU’s border force, to show that more illegal entries into the common travel area had come from Italy than Spain in recent years.
In terms of the number of irregular entries between 2021 and 2026, according to Frontex, some 478,600 migrants arrived via Italy.
Via the Western Balkans, some 340,600 arrived, as well as a further 259,800 via Greece and 234,760 via Spain.
READ ALSO: Spain’s PM heads to Ceuta enclave over mass migrant crossing
Italian PM Meloni said images from Ceuta showing the migrants were “shocking”.
There were similar reactions from a range of right-wing and Trump-linked leaders in Europe.
Far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel claimed in an X post that “Ceuta was left in ruins overnight” by the mass influx from Morocco.
She argued that Germany is “likely the destination for most of these migrants.”
“Germany must prepare itself: borders must be secured and rejections rigorously enforced,” wrote Weidel, whose party is backed by top Trump officials.
READ ALSO: Why did Morocco open the border to migrants at Spain’s Ceuta enclave?
With additional reporting by Conor Faulkner.
