The Situation in Morocco: What Are Migrants ‘Fleeing’ From?

The astonishing sight of thousands of Moroccan migrants overrunning the Spanish town of Ceuta raises questions about what they might be fleeing from.

Are conditions in Morocco so horrific that up to 60,000 people felt it necessary to swim to Spain, leaving at least 34 of their number floating dead in the water?

Part of the answer can be gleaned from the infamous social media videos rocketing around the world, which show not weary refugees pulling themselves ashore with the last of their strength, but thousands of military-age males running gleefully through the streets while flashing victory signs:

Moroccans have long viewed the Ceuta peninsula as “conquered” or “occupied” land, taken by Portugal from Morocco in 1415 and transferred to Spanish control some 250 years later.

Social media was reportedly used to coordinate the invasion, a digital campaign that began in earnest after Spain’s recent immigration laws and court decisions created the impression of an “open border” and Ceuta was ripe for the taking.

Firstpost described the social media campaign on Friday:

The digital campaign provided tactical instructions to prospective migrants alongside idealised narratives as creator accounts explicitly advised followers not to carry backpacks or heavy belongings, stating that swim trunks and physical endurance were all that was required.

Videos also instructed migrants to form swimming groups of at least seven people to decrease individual risk and make interception by border patrols more difficult. Diagrams and satellite imagery shared on Instagram highlighted specific entry points, primarily the Tarajal breakwater and the rocky cliffs of Belyouch.

Complementing these promotional videos were widespread rumors on Facebook and encrypted WhatsApp groups asserting that border security had collapsed or that Spanish authorities were granting automatic entry rights.

Morocco itself has been wrestling with a tide of African migrants pushing toward Europe. The Moroccan and Spanish governments have an uneasy agreement that Moroccan border guards will hold the tide at bay, but Morocco sometimes lets that duty slip when relations with Madrid deteriorate.

The previous mass assault on the Spanish border in 2021 occurred because Morocco was angry at Spain for admitting the leader of a Saharan separatist group called the Polisario Front for hospital treatment during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.

The Moroccan government may or may not have openly endorsed the current crisis in Ceuta, but widespread reports indicated that its police and border guards did little throughout the week as signs of a growing crowd grew and only belatedly swung into action after tens of thousands had crossed. Moroccan cybersecurity officials allegedly tried to shut down the social media campaign that coordinated the invasion, but the organizers kept creating new accounts and posting their material, faster than it could be taken down.

The Associated Press reported on Friday that Moroccan police have deployed in heavy numbers along the coastline and are using everything from water cannons to warning shots to discourage more swimmers, but the migrants are still coming.

Morocco’s ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, said she did not know what triggered the migration wave, and she hoped many of those who swam to Ceuta would return home.

“We have always prioritized legal, orderly and safe migration for all,” she said.

Spain’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is pushing the theory that human smugglers “misinterpreted” his offers of amnesty for migrants and the recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling that said migrants crossing by water could not be forcibly turned back, to create a somehow false impression that Spain’s borders were open.

“It appears that this interpretation of the Supreme Court’s ruling spread like wildfire over the past few hours through the networks of human trafficking organizations, triggering the kind of mass surge we witnessed yesterday,” he said.

The Spanish Interior Ministry likewise said on Thursday that it “believes human trafficking networks are exploiting a court ruling to encourage the flow of undocumented migrants, mostly young people.”

One of the rare females among the migrant wave, a young woman named Fatima Zahra, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Friday that she joined the stampede after hearing Spain had opened its borders to economic migrants.

“I was in Tangier, where I was working. I woke up in the morning and heard that Ceuta had opened. At that point, I told the people with me let’s go there for work … let’s try our luck too,” she said, describing her working conditions in Tangier as “appalling.”

Zahra tried crossing by land, not sea, and was blocked by Moroccan security forces in the border town of Fnideq, which became what AFP described as a “scene of ruin.”

Migrants posting online and speaking with foreign media often speak of the poor economy and hard conditions in Morocco, especially for Africans who migrate there. Social media posts have long portrayed penetrating Europe’s borders as a triumphant act.

InfoMigrants looked at this online chatter in March and noted that migrants love to document and celebrate their achievement, in part because they want to encourage others back in Morocco to join them.

“We have suffered a lot – we need to show that we have succeeded,” explained a migrant from Chad who made it to Ceuta in January. “We post these images to celebrate our success and encourage others. We left our friends behind in Morocco. These videos are made to motivate them, to make sure they don’t give up and tell them it will be their turn one day.”

“Today, it’s sensational and glamorous to make the crossing. People show their exploits on social media, even if it means masking reality. Those who stay behind witness the ‘success’ of others on their phones, and ask themselves why it can’t be them,” noted immigration specialist Ali Zoubeidi.

Morocco has a fairly robust economy by regional standards. The World Bank said last week that the economy is “growing at its fastest pace in over ten years, buoyed by a surge in infrastructure investment and an agricultural rebound.”

“Real GDP growth reached an estimated 4.9 percent in 2025, the strongest performance in a decade, driven by a surge in public investment linked to the preparations for the 2030 FIFA World Cup and a nascent recovery in agriculture,” the report said.

Inflation is down to 0.8 percent, while the budget deficit is down to 3.5 percent of GDP. The country has one of the best investment ratings in Africa from S&P Global.

According to the World Bank, Morocco still faces some “structural labor market challenges,” including “the low participation of women in the workforce,” and a generally slow pace of adopting advanced technology for business.

Youth unemployment is high and the majority of its employment comes from the “informal” grey-market economy, which is largely untaxed and unregulated. The World Bank noted that the formal economy is rigid and tends to protect existing job holders, so many younger Moroccans – especially those who migrated from elsewhere in Africa – must rely on informal jobs that offer low pay and poor working conditions.

Some human rights activists view the informal economy as a system of exploitation that forces Moroccans to work long hours in unsafe conditions for minimal pay, in order to provide cheap exports such as textiles to foreign buyers. The legal minimum wage in Morocco is only about $330 per month, and informal jobs tend to pay considerably less.

To put it bluntly, Morocco looked better than where they originated for many African migrants, Europe looks much better than Morocco, and Spain is the wide-open gateway to Europe.

Contrary to the panicked damage control from the Sánchez administration, migrant social media demonstrated a sharp understanding of the risks and rewards for overrunning Ceuta this week, including the accurate perception that Spain would do nothing to repel migrants arriving by water. They were not being persecuted in Morocco, but they were being taken advantage of, and they took advantage of Sanchez’ foolish policies in turn.