Footage shows the shocking moment beachgoers were forced to flee as more than 60 migrants leapt from a boat and charged ashore in a popular tourist hotspot.
The video, captured from a beach near the luxurious La Manga resort in Spain, showed scores of migrants disembarking a large dinghy and wading between terrified holidaymakers.
Groups of families, either paddling in the sea or sheltering beneath colourful umbrellas, watched in a mix of fear and disbelief as individuals broke into Spain.
Many were seen fleeing as migrants made their way to the nearby town of Atamaría in Murcia.
According to local media reports, those who came ashore were described as predominantly North African males and mostly in their late teens or twenties.
They made landfall around 1pm yesterday, disturbing visitors at the exclusive Cala del Barco cove near the famous resort.
Police are said to have attended the scene after receiving multiple emergency calls from tourists and residents alarmed by the landing.
La Manga resort has previously served as a training base for the England national team as well as clubs including Newcastle United and Arsenal Women.
The Spanish government, led by socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, has yet to formally address the incident.
However, local politicians have expressed concerns about the landing.
Noelia Arroyo, the mayor of Cartagena, where La Manga is found, declared that such incursions “cannot be normalised”.
“We cannot accept that human trafficking mafias have such an easy time reaching our shores.
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“If a migrant boat can reach a cove like this, disembark in full view of citizens and then leave, we have to ask ourselves how the control of our maritime borders is working,” she said.
Francisco Bernabe, a former mayor of a nearby town, shared his fury that Spanish authorities did not intercept the landing.
“Dozens of illegal immigrants landed today at the La Manga Club cove,” he began.
“How is it possible that the surveillance radar did not detect a boat of that size?
“Are they broken? Do they have them turned off? Or are they working and they simply ignored them?"
Wednesday’s landing follows the astonishing migrant invasion of the Spanish exclave of Ceuta last month.
More than 60,000 migrants stormed border fences and overwhelmed the small city, situated on the African continent’s Mediterranean coast.
The Spanish army was deployed to restore order, and most migrants were reportedly returned to Morocco. Nevertheless, the incident sparked outrage across Europe.
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