Two Moroccans at the point of exhaustion were rescued on the beaches of Ceuta, after having attempted to reach the Spanish peninsula by swimming across the Strait of Gibraltar from Tangier.
Two Moroccans wearing wetsuits were rescued on a beach in Ceuta, after having left Tangier in an attempt to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar to reach Cadiz. Currents pushed them off course and they ended up, exhausted, on La Bolera beach in the Spanish enclave in Morocco. That's where agents from the Spanish Civil Guard found them on the morning of July 19, according to Civil Guard sources cited by Spanish media.
Exhausted by crossing attempt
At the time of their rescue, the two migrants behaved violently, and, according to sources, threw rocks at the agents. The agents had been called by an area resident, who had seen the two young men struggling in the water, having reached the point of exhaustion. One of the migrants, assisted by the Red Cross, fainted while he was being brought onto dry land. After undergoing medical exams, the two Moroccans were brought to a Ceuta police station to await repatriation to Morocco.
Also on July 19, a boat with 10 migrants aboard was intercepted one mile off the coast of Ceuta by Spanish Maritime Rescue vessels. The rescued migrants were disembarked at Ceuta's Cañonero Dato pier.
The previous case
This was not the first time desperate migrants attempted to swim to the beaches of the autonomous city in northern Africa. Last January, a judge from the 6th section of the Ceuta court definitively shelved a case that was reopened in 2017, in which 14 migrants died at the border in Tarajal in the attempt to reach the enclave.
Spanish Civil Guard agents used tear gas and rubber bullets to deter the migrants. The judge ruled that there was no evidence of inadequate use of riot gear by the agents for deterrent purposes.