The U.S. Department of State on Aug. 1 increased a travel advisory for Ceuta, Spain, to a higher level because of unrest caused by a recent mass influx of illegal immigrants.
The agency said it updated its travel advisory for Americans to Ceuta to Level 3, or “reconsider travel,” because of “massive and uncontrolled arrival of migrants from Morocco to Ceuta” that could lead to an “unpredictable and dangerous security situation.”
“Spain has deployed the Spanish military, Spanish National Police, and Guardia Civil as a result of this serious situation,” it said. “Americans should reconsider travel to the area given the risks posed to their safety and security.”
Spanish authorities on Aug. 1 installed a 1,600-foot barrier along the sea border between Ceuta and Morocco following the surge.
At least 67 of the border crossers died, including some who drowned and others who were killed in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier, the Spanish government said on Aug. 1.
The sudden arrival of 50,000 to 60,000 people in the territory on July 30 and July 31 sparked a humanitarian crisis and reignited the immigration debate in Europe and beyond, although at least 80 percent of the illegal immigrants had returned to Morocco by Aug. 1, according to government estimates.
Other European Union countries called for urgent talks and a coordinated response to the situation in Ceuta.
“We cannot allow uncontrolled mass crossings, the instrumentalization of migration or other hybrid threats to create the perception that illegal entry into the European Union is possible. That a migrant’s illegal entry can turn into legal stay,” a letter to top EU officials, released on Aug. 1 by the Italian government’s office, said in a statement.
“Such a perception would encourage further attempts, undermine confidence in our common migration policy and have repercussions for all Member States.”
Leaders of Italy, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Sweden signed the letter asking the EU’s current Irish presidency to convene a video conference of interior ministers.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez criticized the reaction to the events in Ceuta, saying calls for Spain to be suspended from the EU’s borderless Schengen zone were “driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance, or political interest.”
According to the State Department, Spain—other than Ceuta—is currently under a “Level 2,” or “exercise increased caution,” travel advisory.