Moroccan police made a number of arrests as migrants tried to enter Spain’s autonomous North African territory of Ceuta, only two weeks after tens of thousands entered the exclave

More than 72,000 migrants surged into Ceuta two weeks ago with at least 96 people dying as they tried to cross from the sea. All but a few thousand later returned to Morocco.

Security had been stepped up on both sides of the border following the previous influx and recent calls on social media for another mass crossing.

According to a report on Saturday by Spanish news agency EFE, Moroccan police used teargas to disperse groups of migrants gathered on hills about 1.9 miles (3km) from the border.

The incident occurred in a mountainous area to the south-west of Ceuta. According to reports, police made at least 111 arrests.

The group of migrants had been hiding on the outskirts of Fnideq (known as Castillejos in Spanish) in Morocco before they were escorted away by police in riot gear.

Most arrested from sub-Saharan Africa

Of those arrested, two were Moroccan and the rest were from sub-Saharan Africa, according to a source from Morocco’s interior ministry speaking to Sky News.

Earlier this week, Rabat said it was monitoring “the circulation of social media posts and messages of unknown origin” calling for a mass crossing on 15 August, warning it would prosecute organisers and participants.

Increased security

The situation in Ceuta has calmed following the previous mass crossing, with soldiers and more than 500 extra police sent from mainland Spain, bringing the total to more than 1,600 officers in a city of around 80,000 people.

Spain has also installed a maritime barrier to try and prevent the crossings.

“We’ll continue to deploy whatever personnel are necessary to restore normality as soon as possible and prevent events like those of 30 July from happening again,” Spain’s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said on Thursday.

The situation is just as heavily policed on the Moroccan side of the border, with authorities maintaining checkpoints on the main roads into the town, particularly on the routes from the cities of Tetouan and Tangier.

Fast boats from the Moroccan navy and surveillance drones were also in action during the early hours.

Underlying tension remains

Although most of those who breached the Spanish border were returned to Morocco in the days after the influx, according to Spanish authorities, Grande-Marlaska said that 5,000 people still remain in Ceuta.

He said that they would all be returned to Morocco, apart some rare cases of extreme vulnerability.

Many of those still in the exclave are camping in make-shift shelters on the beach. Sky News reported earlier this week that around 75 migrants had travelled to southern Spain via boat.

The mass crossing also sparked political issues for Spain, as Italy, backed by Finland and Denmark, called for suspending the 29-member Schengen arrangement of free movement with Madrid and imposed border checks on arrivals from Spain.

Czechia also called for Spain’s Schengen membership to be temporarily suspended.

Spain reacted strongly, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pointing out that Ceuta was not part of the Schengen area, so migrants had not arrived on the Spanish mainland and could not travel to other European countries.

It called on Italy to drop its border controls, and brought in its own when Rome refused, referencing the possibility of a fresh mass crossing on 15 August.

On Saturday, Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said his country had been afraid of a “risk of a new wave of arrivals in Ceuta”.

“We’re not waging any kind of ‘battle’ against Spain – we’re simply carefully controlling arrivals,” he said.

“Instead of worrying about us, Spain should worry about Morocco – that’s where the problems are coming from, certainly not from our controls.”