By Michael Francis Gore and Ahmed Eljechtimi
CEUTA, Spain/ FNIDEQ, Morocco, July 31 (Reuters) - Spain said on Friday that it had reversed a huge rush of migrants into a Spanish enclave in North Africa, with thousands of people who had crossed the border by land and sea already heading back voluntarily.
Moroccan forces beat back crowds with batons and tear gas at the gates to Ceuta, trying to prevent more from storming across into the tiny Spanish territory that juts on a spit of sandy land into the Mediterranean
from Morocco.
Spain's Interior Ministry said around 50,000 people had crossed the border since Thursday morning, and estimated that around 25,000 had already turned and gone back.
Juan Jesus Vivas, head of Ceuta's local government, said as many as 60,000 people had pushed across and 34 had died. Earlier, Spanish authorities had said 19 bodies were found in the water.
The mass storm of the border caused division in Europe, where leaders of fellow EU states called for Spain to ensure that the incident was contained. Right-wing parties around the continent blamed the incident on Spain's comparatively lax migration policies, including an amnesty granted to hundreds of thousands of unauthorised migrants this year.
France said it was increasing checks on its border with Spain, and Italy threatened to suspend Spain from the EU's internal open-border scheme.
Reuters at the enclave's border saw Moroccan police in riot gear using tear gas to disperse some of the people amassed near the fences. Water cannon trucks were deployed and the charred remains of a bus and seven cars could be seen from clashes with the crowds.
On the other side, Spanish military vehicles lined up along sections of the border as dozens of migrants watched from a hilltop in Morocco, unable to cross.
Several hundred people could be seen returning to Morocco through border posts and holes in the fence, with some saying they could not find food or shelter in Ceuta.
"Honestly, I don't even know why I came, and now I'm going back," a young Moroccan man, who said he was from Tangier, told Reuters. "I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday, even though I brought some money with me ... What we're doing is neither good nor enjoyable."
UNPRECEDENTED SCALE OF CROSSINGS
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez travelled to Ceuta on Friday, where he was greeted with insults from protesters. He called the mass crossing "a violation of Spain's territorial sovereignty" and said authorities were speeding up the repatriation of those who had entered illegally, with full cooperation from Morocco.
Ceuta and Melilla, Spanish autonomous cities in northern Morocco, have the European Union's only land borders with Africa. Both periodically experience surges in attempted crossings by migrants seeking to reach Europe, but the scale of Thursday's rush appeared unprecedented.
In a post on X, Spain's Guardia Civil police association AUGC said there had been too few police in place to monitor the fence during the surge on Thursday, making them unable to stop the rush.
Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres said that among factors contributing to the surge may have been a ruling by Spain's Supreme Court earlier this month that migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to reach Ceuta or Melilla cannot be summarily returned under special rules.
On the Moroccan side of the border, thousands of migrants streamed into the town of Fnideq overnight despite a reinforced deployment of security that foiled most attempts to cross.
Although the crossing appeared blocked, groups moved along the coast seeking routes around the fence.
"I was late," said Brahim, 32, who gave only one name. He said he had arrived from Tangier hoping to cross through the gate but found it effectively shut. Among those hoping to cross were women and children, from both Morocco and sub-Saharan African countries further south.
EUROPEAN DIVISIONS DEEPEN
Migration is one of the most divisive issues in Europe, where far-right parties have been on the rise and much of the political mainstream has backed tougher policies.
Spain's Socialist government, an outlier to the continental trend of tightening rules, says it remains firm over illegal crossings but that immigrants benefit Spain and help strengthen its fast-growing economy. It offered a mass amnesty that saw hundreds of thousands of people seek legal residency over the past months.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said he had already issued instructions "to immediately step up checks at the Spanish border". The ministry did not give further details about how this would change procedures.
EU countries are normally barred from conducting checks at internal frontiers of the bloc's Schengen zone, though checks can be reimposed temporarily under exceptional circumstances. France has a waiver it has renewed every six months since 2015.
Italy's right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her country was prepared "to intervene with extraordinary measures to defend the borders and the safety of citizens, including the suspension of the Schengen Area with Spain".
Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Spain's amnesty policy had "encouraged human trafficking". Spain summoned the Italian ambassador to protest against Tajani's remarks.
Marine Le Pen, presidential candidate from France's far-right National Rally, said that if she wins an election next year she would restrict free movement under Schengen to European nationals.
(Reporting by Michael Gore, Ahmed Eljechtimi, Emma Pinedo, Joan Faus, Victoria Waldersee, David Latona, Javi West Larrañaga; Additional reporting by Inti Laudaro, Francesca Piscioneri and Alvise Armellini; Writing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Peter Graff)
