The illegal migrant wave now storming into the enclave of Ceuta is largely driven by illicit content shared on social media and messaging platforms, Spanish outlets detailed Friday.
Ceuta, an autonomous Spanish enclave located in North Africa and surrounded by Morocco and the Mediterranean Sea, is presently going through its worst migrant crisis after thousands of migrants swam their way in over the past days. The already dramatic situation exponentially worsened on Thursday, with police officers affirming that “some 20,000” migrants have crossed into Spanish territory over the past hours.
The illegal migrants are availing themselves of a loophole enabled by the Spanish Supreme Court in early July after it banned pushbacks at sea.
According to Spanish outlets, the ongoing migrant wave — the worst situation of its kind that Ceuta has faced since 2021 — was organized through the messaging platform WhatsApp and the social media platforms Instagram and TikTok.
El Español reports that “hundreds” of now-deleted Instagram and TikTok accounts featured migrants “heroes” who allegedly documented the entire process that some of they underwent to reach Ceuta — including, but not limited to, detailed explanations on the swimming tools used, the recommended amount that each group should have, and how to protect their phone devices from water damage during the journey.
The outlet noted that the accounts frequently disappear, as they blatantly encourage migration.
“Its creators are aware of this. That’s why, every so often, they open a new account,” El Español wrote.
“Ironically, their description states that they ‘do not encourage emigration.’ But you only need to scroll through their posts to realize that there, on that wall, are hundreds of photos of people who have made it,” the outlet continued.
The accounts reportedly placed the beaches at the Moroccan town of Fnideq, known in Spanish as Castillejos, as the starting point of the journey into Spain, as it is the closest town to Ceuta. The chosen starting point, El Español said, is dependent on tide and fog conditions.
Detailed entry points as thousands of illegal migrants storm the border between Morocco and Ceuta. (Yasin Demirci/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“All of this is followed to the letter. These people’s journey on social media goes viral,” El Español wrote. “They get thousands of views and comments from the moment they start preparing until they succeed.”
Although the TikTok and Instagram accounts are reportedly deleted and rapidly replaced with new ones, the “pull effect” goal of encouraging other migrants to also make their way into Spanish territory is nevertheless achieved.
El Español pointed out that the contents feature a song by Moroccan artist Khalid El Paisano which, according to the Spanish outlet, has become the “the anthem of the migrants.” The song’s Spanish-language lyrics heavily feature themes of immigration from Morocco to Spain.
Equally concerning is the use of WhatsApp to spread messages among migrants. The Spanish newspaper ABC, citing testimonies allegedly obtained by Spanish officers, reports that some of the migrants alleged that a simple “pass it on” message was the call to action to swarm Ceuta.
“These sources explain that the operation was carried out by Maghreb base groups, which did not include people from other parts of Africa,” ABC wrote.
According to ABC, the use of messaging platforms to organize a migrant wave into Ceuta echoes events that occurred in 2024. At the time, messages spread like wildfire among private chat groups to coordinate date and time information, instructions, and other logistical details to bypass Spanish police checkpoints.