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Fnideq in Morocco: Hundreds are waiting to cross the border to the Spanish exclave
Photo: MOHAMED SIALI / EPA
Within one day, more than 6000 people from Morocco reached the Spanish North Africa exclave of Ceuta.
The situation has worsened over the past few hours.
Now the Spanish government has criticized Morocco for the first time for the penetration of migrants into the Spanish North Africa exclave.
Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya told journalists that she had quoted the Moroccan ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to convey "the displeasure and rejection" of Madrid.
She reminded them that both countries were responsible for border control, and also stressed that one must now look to the future "so that such events do not happen again."
Previously, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchéz had avoided any criticism of Rabat and emphasized that Rabat was a "partner and friend" of Spain.
The socialist arrived in Ceuta in the late afternoon.
Shortly before her interview with Foreign Minister González Laya, Ambassador Karima Benyaich told a journalist for the Europa Press news agency that there are actions "which have consequences" in relations between countries.
Spain had previously approved treatment for the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, in a Spanish hospital. Polisario is fighting for the independence of Western Sahara in Morocco. Rabat therefore sees Ghali as a war criminal and demands his arrest. Ambassador Benyaich's statement was seen by the media as indirect but clear confirmation that the suspension of border controls by the Moroccan authorities was a reprisal.
More than 6,000 people had entered Ceuta from the Moroccan area since Monday.
Never before had so many people reached the small exclave with around 85,000 inhabitants within 24 hours.
The Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska announced that 2,700 migrants had now been deported to Morocco.
The return operations would continue.
asc / dpa