Spain sends more than 6000 migrants back to Morocco

 

Over 6,600 of the more than 8,000 migrants who swam or jumped over border fences into one of Spain’s North African enclaves this week have been sent back to Morocco, authorities said Friday.

No fresh arrivals were recorded for the second day in a row in Ceuta, the Spanish city of 85,000 at the center of a diplomatic row between Spain and Morocco, after Moroccan authorities stepped up vigilance on their side of the border.

But in nearby Melilla, another Spanish territory 350 kilometers (220 miles) west along the Mediterranean Sea next to Morocco, border security forces on both sides repelled groups of youths trying to get into Spain. The Spanish government’s delegation in Melilla said a few dozen made it in.