119 migrants from Morocco enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla

A group of 119 irregular sub-Saharan migrants managed to enter the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Monday, after crossing the triple metal fence separating it from Morocco, according to Spanish authorities.

In total, around 200 migrants tried to force their way from Morocco around 4.30 a.m., Melilla prefecture said.

Read also: More than 2,000 migrants died off Spain in the first half of the year, according to an NGO

The Spanish Civil Guard and Moroccan police quickly mobilized to try to stop them, but the 119 migrants, all men, managed to enter Melilla.

Five civil guards and a migrant were injured in the incident, according to the prefecture.

They were immediately taken to the Temporary Stay Center (CETI) and placed in a special area to be tested for Covid-19.

A gateway to Europe

Melilla is with Ceuta - the other Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast - the only land border of the European Union with Africa. The two cities have been subjected for years to strong migratory pressure, to which has been added since spring 2020 the closure of the border on the Moroccan side, officially to prevent the entry of cases of coronavirus.

In May, Ceuta was shaken by the sudden arrival of more than 10,000 migrants, the vast majority of Moroccan young people and adolescents.

This unprecedented migratory wave occurred thanks to a relaxation of controls by Rabat against a backdrop of diplomatic crisis with Madrid due to the reception in Spain, to be treated there, of the leader of the Saharawi separatists of the Polisario Front, Brahim. Ghali, sworn enemy of Morocco.

He left Spain in early June for Algeria, but relations between Madrid and Rabat remain strained.

The prefecture of Melilla, however, underlined the "

" of the Moroccan police on Monday to try to prevent this entry of migrants.