Ceuta and Melilla: how the colonial legacies of these cities have shaped migration in the region

More than seventy thousand undocumented migrants arrived in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta by sea from Morocco on July the thirtieth, overwhelming a city of just seven square miles. The Conversation (UK) reports that over ninety-five percent have since returned via the land border after emergency talks between Madrid and Rabat, though those who remain have filled the city's reception centres past capacity. Spanish figures cited in the piece put the death toll from crossing attempts at at least eighty-eight. As the outlet notes, the episode has fed far-right political reactions in Spain and prompted the swift installation of a new sea barrier at the Tarajal crossing.

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