Spain has announced plans to install a roughly 500-metre floating barrier along the Morocco-Ceuta coast after a recent influx of migrants into the autonomous city of Ceuta. Published on August 2, the report said the inflatable barrier will extend about one metre below the water. The Interior Ministry also plans an additional line of anchored naval buoys to strengthen border surveillance.

According to the ministry, an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 migrants entered Ceuta from Morocco within 24 hours. At least 48,300 were returned to Morocco by Friday afternoon, while several hundred others left Ceuta voluntarily. Authorities have not announced a specific decision concerning people who remain in the city. A Spanish government spokesperson in Ceuta said at least 67 people had died in recent days while trying to enter.

More than 20 European Union member states have called on the European Commission to convene an emergency meeting of interior ministers. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said traffickers had encouraged crossings by spreading a mistaken interpretation of a recent Supreme Court ruling. Human Rights Watch raised concerns about how security forces would respond if people tried to swim across the barrier.