Madrid. Illegal immigrants entering Spain from Morocco have caused a lot of problems. Now Spain has decided to use a new method to deal with this. Spain has announced that it will build a 500-meter-long (1,600 feet) barrier on the maritime border between its North African region Ceuta and neighboring Morocco. According to a report, a floating barrier was installed near the Tarajal breakwater in the coastal area of Ceuta. It is noteworthy that the death toll on Spain’s Ceuta border with Morocco has risen to 67. The Spanish government gave this information on Saturday.
The Spanish government said that the dead included some who drowned and some who died in a stampede to cross the breakwater barrier
. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez strongly criticized the reaction of some EU leaders to the events in Ceuta. He said that the demand to suspend Spain from the EU’s borderless Schengen area was motivated by prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political expediency. Some exhausted migrants who reached the Tarajal beach in Ceuta by swimming on Saturday morning were sent back across the border by soldiers.
What the Interior Ministry said:
The Spanish Interior Ministry says that most of those who entered Spanish territory in North Africa have already returned to Morocco. Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters in Ceuta on Saturday that they take a firm stand against those who break the law. When asked how such a large number of people were able to cross the border despite tight security on both sides and whether there was any threat to Ceuta from Morocco, Marlaska defended the government in Rabat. He said that Spain and Morocco need to jointly assess these incidents. But it was only because of cooperation with neighboring countries that Spain was able to bring the situation back to normal within 24 hours.
Italy starts checking passengers
Meanwhile, Italy has temporarily started border checks on passengers arriving from Spain. France has also tightened controls on its borders. Prime Minister Sanchez has also called for an emergency meeting of EU interior ministers. This sudden pressure on the city of Ceuta, with a population of about 84,000, has sparked political debate in Spain and across Europe. Italy has started checking non-EU citizens arriving from Spain by air and sea. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that this step was necessary to protect European borders.