About 2,500 sub-Saharan African migrants stormed the border fence separating the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco but Spanish security forces managed to stop the majority of them.
Melilla and Ceuta, another Spanish territory in North Africa, have the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.
Some 500 managed to cross, in one of the largest influxes in recent years. Three Spanish Guardia Civil police suffered “slight injuries” in the incident and three migrants were also treated for injuries near the fence.
In mid-May 2021, without warning, Spain was swarmed with over 10,000 people who mostly crossed into the Ceuta territory using small inflatable boats into the Moroccan border.
The influx took place during a diplomatic row between Madrid and Rabat over Western Sahara, which has long pushed for independence from Morocco.
Madrid infuriated Morocco by allowing the leader of Western Sahara’s independence movement Brahim Ghali into Spain for medical attention for a severe case of COVID-19, sparking a testy standoff between both countries.