Europe on edge after 60k migrants storm Spain enclave as France tightens borders & Italy suspends EU travel zone

EUROPE is on the edge after more than 60,000 migrants stormed a Spanish enclave – sparking calls to suspend free movement from the country. France has tightened its borders in response to the deepening crisis and Italy has suspended EU Schengen free-travel deal with the country. Around 60,000 stormed the borders of a Spanish enclave, sparking chaos and terrifying locals Credit: AFP via Getty Images The crisis has prompted Italy to suspend its free-travel pact with Spain Credit: AP The army has been called in to help overwhelmed guards Credit: Reuters A member of Moroccan security forces fires a teargas shell to disperse the crowds at the site of clashes near Fnideq, on the Morocco-Spain border Credit: AFP The Schengen agreement is a treaty that allows passport-free travel across 29 European countries. But after thousands of migrants “completely invaded” Ceuta – an enclave in northern Africa – concerned governments are rallying to remove Spain. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Finland backed calls for the Mediterranean country to be booted from the pact after France introduced stricter measures on its border. Italy does not share a land border with Spain, but its move will mean people travelling by boat or plane between the two countries will need to show their passports. Migrants gather around a torched vehicle while waiting for a chance to cross to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta Credit: Reuters Chaos has erupted on the streets with locals considering fleeing Credit: AP Streets were turned into open toilets Credit: davidsantosvlog/X Italy’s interior minister also said Paris has agreed to strengthen controls along the Franco-Italian land border to try to prevent any undocumented migrants from crossing. Giorgia Meloni‘s government previously said it was considering “extraordinary measures” in response to the crisis in Ceuta. It comes as terrified locals in the enclave are cowering in their homes, with some considering fleeing. Shops have been looted, cars set on fire and the streets have been turned into an open toilet in “apocalyptic” scenes. Most read in The Sun The terrifying moment migrants appear to break into homes in Ceuta Shocking footage captures a man climbing through a window using a ladder On top of the estimated 60,000 to have entered Ceuta in the last 24 hours, another 400 crossed into Melilla, another enclave around 200 miles away. One Spanish business owner told RTVE: “It’s like an apocalypse. Waves of people everywhere.” He said authorities had “no capacity” to control the chaos and that migrants are now bathing in public fountains and sleeping in the streets. Around 25,000 people have already returned to Morocco after the deadly surge. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has come under fire for a lightweight immigration approach Credit: Reuters A Spanish Supreme Court recently ruled that migrants arriving by sea could not be immediately deported Credit: AFP At least 57 migrants died in the perilous crossing, many drowning. Others were crushed to death in a terrifying stampede near a beach border crossing. Thousands of children are thought to be among the huge crowds. One local said: “Businesses closed. Shops shut because if you open a business, it gets overrun. “We’re scared. The streets are packed. There are no measures in place. It’s every man for himself. They’re not giving us any help.” Shocking footage shows migrants appearing to break into homes in Ceuta and cars being set alight on the Melilla border. Furious locals in Ceuta claim they have had to hide away and bolt up shops and businesses, with some considering leaving the city where the Spanish Army has been mobilised amid violent clashes. Spain’s soft-touch Supreme Court has come under fire and blamed for the recent numbers being so high. A ruling stated that migrants who arrive by sea should not be subject to immediate expulsion as they are not crossing a physical land border. The decision has been exploited by people-smuggling gangs and brought with it a wave of undocumented migration. In the majority of cases, migrants entered the Spanish territory by walking along the Tarajal breakwater, a stone barrier marking the maritime border where Europe meets Morocco, and by jumping into the sea. Ceuta and Melilla, Spanish autonomous cities in northern Morocco, have the European Union‘s only land borders with Africa. Both experience surges in attempted crossings by migrants, but the scale of the latest rush appeared unprecedented. 'How not to handle an immigration crisis' BY Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK IF you want to see how not to handle an immigration crisis look no further than Spain. Their Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez launched an amnesty for undocumented (ie illegal) migrants in April, seemingly, expecting only half a million to apply. By 30th June, the deadline for applications, some 1.2million had sought to stay in the EU nation legally. All they needed to qualify was having lived in Spain for five months and having no criminal convictions. Then earlier this month the Spanish Supreme Court ruled that the sea is not a border and that the authorities could not quickly deport migrants who swim to Spanish territory. They could await the outcome of their application in mainland Spain. This week we have seen the consequences in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa, with around 50-60,000 migrants – equivalent to towns the size of Luton or Reading – swimming over from neighbouring Morocco and walking unchallenged into Spanish territory. [That is equivalent to the population of Basingstoke or Rochdale.] The migrant amnesty has led to more people trying to get into Spain with many no doubt chancing their arm across the English Channel. Senor Sanchez and his ultra-left-wing ministers are putting the rights of asylum seekers above those of their own citizens (sound familiar?)Sánchez called it an “attack” on Spain, but he has only himself to blame. We should all learn from his monumental error of judgement, one on a par with Angela Merkel’s in 2015, when she flung open the door to a million migrants with a casual wave of the hand, saying, “We can manage this.”