Thousands of migrants swam from Morocco into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta on Thursday in an unprecedented surge, with at least 67 people dying and their bodies recovered from the sea. Most have since returned to Morocco, escorted by Spanish troops and police, but the episode has reignited deep political divisions across Europe over migration policy and exposed how social media can rapidly mobilise mass movement across borders.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez accused fellow EU members, particularly Italy, of exploiting the crisis rather than supporting Spain, after Giorgia Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia party publicised images of the arrivals and Meloni suspended Italy's Schengen agreement with Spain, citing security concerns. Almost two dozen EU heads of state backed a call for an urgent interior ministers' meeting, targeting Spain's policy of regularising undocumented migrants, though those arriving in Ceuta were not connected to that scheme. Instead, investigators point to viral social media posts, some from accounts only weeks old with tens of thousands of likes, falsely claiming "Spain is Open," alongside a misreading of a Spanish Supreme Court ruling barring immediate pushbacks of those arriving by sea. Migrants who reached Ceuta found no food, shelter or route onward to mainland Europe, and most swiftly turned back, leaving open questions over whether the surge was spontaneous or deliberately orchestrated.