Are you paying attention Mr Burnham? Spain's foreign minister vows to send 'every last person' back to Morocco who stormed Spanish enclave of Ceuta

Published: 16:26, 11 August 2026 | Updated: 16:31, 11 August 2026 Spain's foreign minister vowed to send ‘every last person’ back to Morocco today after 70,000 migrants stormed the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. In stark contrast to Andy Burnham’s response to thousands of small boat arrivals, José Manuel Albares said Madrid would be toeing a hardline by enforcing ‘the return of all those who have entered’ illegally. He stressed that storming the border into EU territory ‘does not grant anyone the right to remain’ during a visit to the enclave, which borders Morocco in North Africa but is Spanish and EU soil. He set out the no-nonsense stance during a visit to Ceuta, which came under siege last month by 70,000 migrants after they swam from Morocco, taking advantage of weak security. Around 70 people died, either by drowning or being crushed at the border fence. The rush on the border triggered European leaders to call for Spain's temporary suspension from the bloc's Schengen free-travel zone, sparking a furious response from Madrid. But today, directly addressing migrants considering another crossing, Mr Albares warned them to ‘not risk their lives, their money or their futures by an endeavour that is doomed to fail.’ José Manuel Albares said Madrid would be towing a hard line by enforcing ‘the return of all those who have entered’ illegally  Last month, 70,000 migrants stormed the Spanish enclave of Ceuta after swimming from Morocco, taking advantage of weak security Some 60,000 of those who crossed the frontier into Ceuta, which neighbours Morocco in north Africa but is part of Spain and EU soil, were reported to have been returned  Any migrants crossing illegally won't be able to reach mainland Europe or stay in Ceuta, he said, warning that ‘every last person’ will be returned. He said that ‘entering Ceuta or [separate enclave] Melilla does not grant anyone the right to remain’, adding: ‘No one has left the city (Ceuta) for the mainland, nor can they, precisely for the reasons I explained regarding this double control border filter, and that the diplomatic work we are doing with Morocco is for the return of all those who have entered irregularly. ‘Everything else is fake news, self-serving rumors.’ By contrast, Mr Burnham has failed to directly address any migrants trying to cross the Channel and has dismissed Reform UK’s policy of sending the Royal Navy in to rescue and return small boats to the French or Belgian coast. This is despite more than 3,000 migrants arriving in his first 22 days as Prime Minister – hundreds more than Sir Keir Starmer’s first three weeks in office. It comes amid a much tougher line being toed among EU nations against illegal crossings into the Continent. They are keen to deter a repeat of the scenes in Ceuta and avoid another migration crisis like the one which engulfed the bloc in 2015. Earlier this month, Greek premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis even called for new emergency measures which would allow EU countries to suspend asylum claims while dealing with waves of migrants. It would mimic measures which the last UK Tory government tried to bring in to tackle small boat Channel crossings, only for it to be ditched by Labour. The last Conservative government passed the Illegal Migration Act 2023, under former PM Rishi Sunak, in a bid to suspend the right to claim asylum for anyone arriving by small boat. However, Labour ditched the proposals after winning the 2024 election amid concerns from human rights groups that it breached the Refugee Convention. While many of the migrants who stormed Ceuta have been sent back to Morocco already, the enclave’s conservative president Juan Jesús Vivas said after meeting Mr Albares today that up to 10,000 people still remained there, a situation he branded ‘unsustainable’.