When he heard the border had been breached, Abdulah Buji jumped on his motorbike and raced from his home in northern Morocco toward Ceuta, joining tens of thousands of people trying to swim into the tiny Spanish territory in North Africa.

Like many of his fellow countrymen, Buji was inspired by the thought that this collective crossing could somehow unlock his dream of reaching Spain and starting a new life in Europe.

“Spain gives you the chance to make your future, not like Morocco,” said Buji, a 21-year-old who is studying to be a teacher. “I am a talented boy. I just want a chance.”

But his elation at setting foot on Spanish soil was quickly followed by the disheartening realization that he was still far from his ultimate goal.

Mainland Europe rested across the Mediterranean, and he and the new arrivals were unwanted. Spanish authorities ordered everyone to turn around and go back or face eventual expulsion.

Buji said he almost joined more than 50 people who died trying to reach Ceuta while swimming around a border fence. He made it across, but he lost his belongings and money in the crossing.

When he realized that he would likely face legal limbo and detention, he turned around and headed back.

“I’ve spent perhaps 14 years studying, but there’s nothing at home, and I’d have to work 12-hour shifts for a meager wage,” Buji said. “That’s why I came here, but I haven’t found any opportunities here either, so I have to go back.”

The US vice president has claimed that the migrant crisis in Cueta is a consequence of “radical left-wing globalist policies”, in a criticism of Pedro Sanchez’s government.

JD Vance wrote on X: “These images out of Spain are an unfortunate reminder of the consequences of mass migration and the radical left-wing globalist policies that have enabled the Invasion of the West.”

Ukraine has accused Russia of carrying out an “intensive propaganda campaign” using pictures from Ceuta to “sow destabilisation”.

Foreign minister Andrii Sybiha‎ claimed that Ukrainian analysts have identified more than 1,500 publications on a pro-Russian network, led by Pravda and RT.

“For years, Moscow has used migration and other sensitive topics to stoke fear and destabilise European countries,” he wrote on X.

Both Donald Trump and the Republican Speaker of the House have weighed in on the crisis in Cueta, blaming the socialist Spanish government for weak immigration laws.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a post on X: “THIS is Marxism in practice: open borders, eroded sovereignty, and unlawful migration on a massive scale.

“What’s happening in REAL TIME in Spain is EXACTLY the future the radical Left envisions for America.

“The socialists are ruining Spain just as they would the US.”

Meanwhile, the US president likened scenes of migrants crossing the border to an “invasion”.

During a Cabinet meeting at the Camp David retreat in Maryland, he suggested the Spanish government “doesn’t know what to do” due to “bad management”.

Morocco has been accused of facilitating the mass influx of 60,000 migrants to the Spanish enclave of Cueta, The Telegraph reports.

Western intelligence sources have said the incident could have been enacted as a punishment over diplomatic frustrations with Spain, who are pursuing gas deals with Algeria.

Morocco’s relationship with socialist Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez is said to be strained, although Spanish officials played down these rumours.

In 2021, a similar incident occurred but on a lesser scale, with Morocco funnelling 8,000 people into the enclave during a dispute with Madrid over the sovereignty of the Western Sahara.

When 21-year-old Abdulah Buji heard that the border into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta had been breached, he raced there on his motorbike, hoping the mass crossing would finally open a path to Europe.

“Spain gives you the chance to make your future, not like Morocco,” the trainee teacher told the Associated Press.

Buji survived the dangerous swim into Ceuta, losing his belongings and money in the process, only to discover there was no route to mainland Spain.

Faced with the prospect of detention and eventual expulsion, he returned to Morocco.

“I’ve spent perhaps 14 years studying, but there’s nothing at home,” he said. “I just want a chance.”

Europe faces a fresh border crisis after around 60,000 migrants from Morocco crossed into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in just 24 hours.

At least 57 people died as border security struggled to deal with the sudden influx, with extraordinary footage capturing the huge crowds making their way into Spain’s North African territory.

Ceuta and the larger Spanish territory of Melilla, which is some 400km (250 miles) east, are located on the northern shores of the Mediterranean coast at the tip of Africa.

Both autonomous cities belong to Spain and share the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.

In Spanish possession since 1580, Ceuta is home to a mixed population of Christians and Muslims, and Spanish and Moroccan residents and day workers who live in relative harmony.

Morocco does not officially recognise Ceuta and Melilla as Spanish territory, and often refers to them as occupied lands.

The city of 85,000 has been a flashpoint in major diplomatic crises in recent memory between Madrid and Rabat.

In May 2021, the Moroccan government dropped its border controls and let some 8,000 people from Morocco and sub-Saharan countries pour into Ceuta in just two days.

The move was broadly interpreted as retaliation from Morocco for Spain’s decision to allow a pro-independence leader from the disputed Western Sahara region to receive medical treatment at a Spanish hospital.

Tensions were defused and the border restored only after Spain’s prime minister shifted his country’s long-standing position on Western Sahara, and met with Moroccan King Mohammed VI the following year.

Ceuta and its sister city Melilla are heavily fortified, as the territories are seen as a destination for those trying to reach Spain from Morocco and other parts of Africa.

A night of unrest gripped Ceuta as nearly 50,000 migrants, most from Morocco, overwhelmed the border.

Security forces from both Morocco and Spain clashed with groups at several crossings as people tried to force their way over the fence and hurled stones at officials.

Moroccan forces initially managed to push them back towards their side of the border, and later unleashed tear gas on them.

At the gates into Ceuta, Moroccan authorities also deployed water cannon trucks and pushed people back.

The charred remains of a bus and seven cars could be seen nearby from the violence.

Those who died included some who drowned or were killed in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier near a border checkpoint.

Smugglers have been blamed for the Ceuta migration crisis, with Pedro Sanchez warning that they “deceive so many young people and ultimately lead many of them to their deaths.”

The Spanish prime minister said they had misinterpreted a recent ruling from the Supreme Court, which then triggered the mass surge.

“It appears that this interpretation of the Supreme Court’s ruling spread like wildfire over the past few hours through the networks of human trafficking organisations, triggering the kind of mass surge we witnessed yesterday,” Sánchez said.