Migrant dies trying to paraglide from Morocco to Ceuta - as fears grow of another surge
Man spotted in Benzú mountains near the Moroccan border with Spanish enclave
A migrant has died after attempting to paraglide into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco.
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The man flew from the Benzú mountains near the Moroccan border on Friday morning.
He fell into the sea after losing control while attempting to land near Ceuta's northern border. His body was recovered by members of the civil guard.
Other individuals have also attempted to paraglide into Ceuta with their attempts posted on social media.
Officials are on alert for another mass crossing into Spain.
Ten days ago, an estimated 78,000 people stormed into Ceuta from Morocco.
🚩 Continúan los arriesgados intentos de entrada en Ceuta en parapente por la zona de Benzú. Esta peligrosa modalidad, que ya ha causado víctimas mortales, sigue registrándose este sábado.#Ceuta #FronteraSur #Inmigración #Marruecos pic.twitter.com/oNhZmhu9uu
— El Faro de Ceuta (@ElFarodeCeuta) August 8, 2026
Some 100 people died during the rush last week in Spain's Ceuta, the enclave city's leader Juan Jesus Vivas said last week.
He added that between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants were still in Ceuta.
The surge overwhelmed local authorities and required the mobilisation of the Spanish army.
People made the crossing either by swimming around border fences on a breakwater, while others crossed on foot along the shoreline.
After the surge, a row developed between Italy and Spain.
Italian PM Georgia Meloni called for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen zone and imposed air and sea border controls on Spanish citizens.
In response, Spain put border controls on Italian travellers.
It is believed that the surge of migrants was kick-started by viral videos online that encouraged people to try to cross - with the numbers making the attempt snowballing out of control.
Spain's Supreme Court published a ruling saying migrants caught at sea could not be immediately pushed back at the border of Spain's North African territories of Ceuta and Melilla.
"Never believe those who tell you that if you get into Ceuta, they will send you back. You will not be sent back," one young Moroccan man said in one of the social media posts.
Multiple posts on Meta's platforms since July 7, including one with over 28,000 likes, also falsely claimed that Spain's existing programme to regularise hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants would end on July 30. Similar messages circulated in the early hours of July 30.