Between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants remain in Ceuta after hordes of mostly military-aged men rushed into the Spanish enclave from Morocco late last month, Ceuta's president said Thursday.While speaking from a video call during an extraordinary session of the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Ceuta President Juan Jesus Vivas also revealed around 100 people died during the surge.Authorities estimate roughly 80,000 migrants rushed into the territory within a 48-hour period in late July.Vivas called the border crisis an "invasion" and "one of the most difficult moments in the recent history of our city.""According to the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, an 'invasion' should be understood in its second definition as the abnormal or irregular occupation of a specific place," Vivas said, according to a Fox News Digital translation of his remarks, which he gave in Spanish.AT LEAST 72 DEAD AMID MASS MIGRANT RUSH TO STORM SPANISH ENCLAVE OF CEUTA SPARKING BORDER CRISISMigrants run and cheer as they cross on foot into the North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, after swimming over from the Moroccan side and overwhelming police at the city's breakwater, according to Spain's Guardia Civil, in Ceuta, Spain, July 30, 2026.(FARO TV via Reuters)"That is precisely what occurred on July 30 and 31, when approximately 80,000 people — equivalent to the entire population of Ceuta — stormed into our city.
This characterization, moreover, aligns with the statement made by the President of the Government of Spain, who on Friday the 31st, during his visit to Ceuta, stated that we were facing an attack, a violation of Spain's territorial integrity," Vivas continued.Echoing previous claims from Spain's leftist President Pedro Sánchez and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Vivas acknowledged roughly 75,000 of the migrants had returned to Morocco but added "under no circumstances does it allow us to claim that our city h...