(AFP) Spain accused Morocco of “blackmail” on Thursday for allowing a record 8,000 migrants to reach the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta, sparking a crisis that saw clashes on the Moroccan side of the border overnight.
Spanish authorities were caught by surprise on Monday when large numbers of mostly young people began swimming or using small inflatable boats to cross the frontier as the Moroccan border forces looked the other way, quickly leaving the tiny territory overwhelmed.
Spanish authorities said police discovered the body of a male migrant floating in the water off Ceuta beach on Thursday, the second such drowning this week.
However, calm had seemingly returned to Ceuta on Thursday after Madrid moved quickly to deploy reinforcements and send most of the migrants back to Morocco.
