There was speculation that Morocco may have engineered the influx to pile diplomatic pressure on Spain.
Haizam Amirah Fernandez, director of the Centre for Contemporary Arab Studies in Madrid, said: ‘The displacement of such a large number of people from Morocco to Ceuta could not have taken place without the Moroccan authorities knowing about or without them allowing such a phenomenon to occur.’
The influx came as border controls collapsed on Thursday. Thousands of young men swam into the territory from Morocco while others smashed through fences.
It followed a ruling by Spain’s supreme court last month that migrants stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla, another Spanish territory in Morocco, cannot be immediately returned.
The chaos in Ceuta also spread to Melilla overnight, with warning shots reportedly fired from both sides of the border between Morocco and Melilla on Friday as police attempted to contain the crowds.
In a letter to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, Dame Priti called for strengthened procedures at the English Channel and Gibraltar, where Labour recently agreed a deal to dismantle the land border with Spain, allowing people to simply walk across to the Rock.
Ceuta is separated from mainland Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar.
Dame Priti warned that Spain’s recent amnesty for illegal migrants had become a magnet for migrants heading for Europe.
Over ten weeks, almost 1.2million applied for the scheme for undocumented migrants who had lived in the country for at least five months by the end of last year.
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‘Local homes broken into’ after 20,000 migrants flood Ceuta
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People gather on a hilltop close to the site of clashes near Fnideq, on the Morocco-Spain border, on July 31, 2026
Spain has claimed it is under ‘attack’ as Europe threatens to close its border with the country while the government battles to manage a massive wave of migrants
Dame Priti urged Mr Miliband to take up the issue with Spain, saying there was ‘potential for more migrants to attempt to enter the UK through illegal means as a result of receiving an amnesty from Spain’.
Mr Farage said: ‘Spain gave an amnesty to half a million people who had illegally got into the country.
‘The messages from Spain are clear – come in and you will be allowed to stay. Schengen allows these migrants an easy route to Calais.
‘In a few months they will be queuing to cross the English Channel.’
The day 60,000 migrants swept their way into Europe: Wave after wave of incomers storm Spanish territory from neighbouring Morocco as protesters throw Nazi salutes
By Andy Jehring and Gerard Couzens
Tens of thousands of migrants are laying siege to Europe after swimming, climbing and running through the EU border into Spain‘s African outpost of Ceuta.
Shocking images show wave after wave of predominantly young men exploiting lax security to storm the city from neighbouring Morocco.
The stampede of more than 60,000 incomers began on Thursday, and has engulfed the tiny territory of seven square miles and 84,000 Spaniards.
Last night, 57 were said to have died in their attempts to get to Ceuta as journalists reported 200 migrants arriving every minute.
The hills behind the border were overrun with crowds making for the city – from where they may try to cross the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain’s mainland.
Violence erupted on the streets last night with crowds of shirtless men seen hurling projectiles and punching locals.
Italy has suspended its EU Schengen agreement with Spain, which allows free movement of people between the states – a move now being considered by Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Sweden.
Morocco deployed water cannon to push back those leaving its territory. But experts fear it could have instigated the influx to force Spain into negotiations to hand over Ceuta, which it has long sought for itself.
Thousands of migrants gather on the beach at the Morocco-Spain border on July 31
A group of migrants wade through the water near the Tarajal border crossing in Ceuta
Migrants move through a security fence topped with razor wire at the border with Ceuta
The charred remains of a bus and several cars could be seen following violent clashes as Spanish soldiers fired tear gas grenades.
But they appeared powerless against what Donald Trump called an ‘invasion’ as immigrants tore up the border fence and torched security vehicles.
The chaos spread to Ceuta’s sister city of Melilla 140 miles east, where hundreds breached the border last night.
In Ceuta the arrivals were heard thanking King Felipe of Spain and cheering: ‘Bye bye, Morocco – hello, Spain!’ Locals criticised Madrid for ‘abandoning’ them.
Lawyer Manuel Jurado said: ‘There are people everywhere and there’s violence now in the city. We can’t consent to a city that’s been completely invaded and people in the street who can’t eat.
‘They haven’t got access to toilets and they’re doing what they need to do in the streets. The border is still open. We need help.’
Ceuta taxi driver Mohammed said: ‘It’s catastrophic. We sympathise with them. They’re having a terrible time in their own country. But this isn’t the way to enter a place, nor is it a way to live.’
Luis, another local, said: ‘Fights are breaking out in the city.