Over the last two weeks, thousands of migrants have taken to the ocean in an attempt to swim into Ceuta, a Spanish enclave at the northern tip of Morocco. According to CNN, the influx of migration was initiated by a decision from the Spanish Supreme Court which sets a new standard for migrants who enter from the ocean rather than at land borders. The decision states that migrants who swim to Spanish territory and enter from the sea cannot be deported without due process because they did not cross the physical border infrastructure that is specifically mentioned in Spanish migration law. As a result, tens of thousands of people hoping to enter Spain, or move further into Europe, began swimming from Moroccan border town Fnideq and landing at the beaches of Ceuta. 

The scale of people hoping to enter Spain from the sea has been due in large part to social media. Al Jazeera reported that, as soon as the Supreme Court decision was handed down, groups were created on Instagram and Facebook to encourage people to swim, publish information on safe departure points and routes, and even connect different groups in the hopes of giving them a way to travel across the border together. Images of young people arriving in Ceuta spread online and only amplified the message for more people to make the journey. 

Of the nearly 72,000 individuals who crossed into Ceuta, all but 5,000 have returned to Morocco as the enclave has been trying to cope with this event. The head of the local government, Juan Jesus Vivas, testified at the European Parliament that at least 100 people died trying to enter the territory, and that the city of 80,000 was reeling after a population nearly its own size attempted to find refuge within its borders. 

Since the migration surge, 22 European Union countries released a joint letter during an emergency meeting calling for the ‘strengthening of external borders.’ Several countries neighboring Spain have increased their police presence at the border and Italy, which does not share a border with Spain, has temporarily suspended its Schengen open border agreement. While these reactions stem in part from the sheer number of people attempting to enter Spain and potentially spread into Europe, they may also be a symptom of a pattern of anti-immigration sentiment, particularly against Muslim immigrants, which has taken hold in Europe over the past several years. 

Brookings analyzed how the turn away from migration has manifested in a shift to the political right all around Europe. Since the ‘migration crisis’ in 2015 following the mass immigration of Syrian refugees, Europe—and even individual states themselves—have struggled to create effective and balanced migration and asylum policies. Tension has begun to boil over as anti-immigration protests and violence have broken out in several European countries over the past several years. All around Europe, Islamophobia has exploded amidst the ever-growing number of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants who are attempting to seek a better life. 

After such an explosive event, Europe may begin to restrict access to migrants and refugees in a major way, even those who attempt to enter by legal means. The migration crisis in Ceuta signals important changes in how migrants are received by the West and what role the internet plays in mass migration movements.