An old video said to show a border gate being opened at Morocco's frontier with the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and migrants walking through it has been miscaptioned to falsely claim the incident happened during a surge of arrivals in July 2026.
Around 72,000 migrants are estimated to have entered Ceuta from Morocco since the surge on July 30, Spain's Interior Ministry said on August 4. The statement added 70,000 have since been returned to Morocco.
Social media posts suggested Morocco had aided, or even “sponsored,” the surge.
"This footage shows migrants being assisted across the border by Moroccan authorities," said an August 1 post on Facebook, which shared the video. The narrative also appeared on X, with one post receiving more than 150,000 views.
However, the video was published by Spanish police union Sindicato Unificado de Policía in May 2021 following another crisis at the Ceuta-Morocco border.
2021 VIDEO
A surge of Moroccan migrants into Ceuta in May 2021 saw around 8,000 swim or clamber over the border fence after Moroccan authorities appeared to loosen controls, Reuters reported at the time.
"There’s the Moroccan border control of #Marruecos that allows the #InvasionCeuta to happen with impunity," said an English translation of the police union's post sharing the border footage on May 18, 2021.
Spanish media outlets also published the police union’s video in May 2021 and said it showed Moroccan guards letting migrants into Ceuta.
A spokesperson for Morocco's Interior Ministry said in an email that it showed individuals trying to reach Ceuta in 2021 from the Moroccan side of the border. The individuals were detained before they could breach the security perimeter and returned to Fnideq in Morocco, the spokesperson added.
2026 SURGE
Morocco's Interior Ministry earlier blamed the July 2026 surge on human trafficking networks, misinformation on social media and misinterpretation of a Spanish court ruling banning immediate returns of migrants intercepted at sea.
Spanish intelligence services concluded that Morocco did not plan the mass crossing but allowed it to happen, according to reports by El Pais and Cadena SER radio citing officials familiar with the matter.
Moroccan border controls were gradually relaxed during July and were allegedly removed as crowds surged toward the Tarajal crossing during Morocco's Throne Day holiday, the reports said.
Spain's Interior Ministry said it was unable to verify the video. Spanish police union Sindicato Unificado de Policía did not respond to a request for comment.
VERDICT
Miscaptioned. The video was published in May 2021, not July 2026, and is said to show border gates being opened during another surge of migrants at the Ceuta-Morocco border.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
