Morocco beefs up security amid calls for mass crossing into Spain’s Ceuta

Morocco has stepped up security measures in the northern city of Fnideq and other areas ahead of social media calls for a mass attempt to cross into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

Authorities reinforced checkpoints leading to Fnideq and the northern cities of Tetouan, Tangier, and Nador, Anadolu reported on Friday.

Authorities also installed barbed wire along the border crossing between Fnideq and Ceuta while deploying large numbers of security personnel and auxiliary forces across the city.

The measures came ahead of August 15 after Morocco’s interior ministry said it had detected anonymous social media calls urging a mass illegal crossing into the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.

On Wednesday, interior ministry spokesperson Rachid El Khalfi said authorities had monitored anonymous posts and messages circulating on social media in recent days encouraging attempts to organise an illegal mass crossing into the two enclaves.

He described the calls as posing serious risks to people’s safety and said they sought to exploit migration issues through acts of incitement punishable under Moroccan law.