After being sharply criticized by a number of European Union states, the head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, made a proposal to convene a special EU ministerial meeting.
Sanchez strongly condemned the approach adopted by individual EU member states, describing it as "due to ignorance, misinformation, prejudices or political interests". At the same time, he called the calls for the temporary expulsion of Spain from the Schengen zone "illegal, selfish and polarizing".
According to the head of the government, the Spanish authorities restored border control in less than 48 hours, provided humanitarian assistance and enabled the majority of citizens to return. At the same time, he stressed that ensuring the security of the external borders of the EU is the common responsibility of all member states.
In two days, around 60,000 migrants illegally entered the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, which borders Morocco and is located in North Africa. Dozens of them drowned while trying to leave Morocco by swimming. According to the data of the afternoon of August 1, the number of dead has reached 67. For the first time since 2021, Madrid has deployed armed forces in the territory of the exclave to maintain public order. On the evening of July 31, the Spanish executive authority announced that tens of thousands of migrants voluntarily returned to Morocco through the land border checkpoint.
