Spain PM Pedro Sanchez convenes security council over Ceuta migrant crisis

Authorities are struggling to restore normality in the Spanish enclave as pressure mounts over migrant returns and the EU's response to the crisis, Report informs referring to Euronews.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has convened an extraordinary meeting of the National Security Council as authorities in Ceuta struggle with the aftermath of the mass arrival of tens of thousands of migrants from Morocco almost four weeks ago.

The council will meet at Madrid's Moncloa Palace ahead of the first cabinet meeting after the summer break to assess the situation and coordinate the government's response.

Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the North African coast bordering Morocco, has been under intense pressure since tens of thousands of people crossed the border on 30 and 31 July.

Spain's Interior Ministry previously put the number of arrivals at around 72,000, about 70,000 of whom had subsequently returned to Morocco.

However, the Spanish government's representative in Ceuta, Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano, said on Monday that more than 80,000 people had entered through the Tarajal border.

Spain is preparing to send up to 25,000 vaccine doses to Ceuta, according to El País, which cited an agreement by the country's Public Health Commission.