More than 1,100 migrants attempted to reach the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla from Morocco on New Year's Eve, the Agence France Presse (AFP) news agency reported on New Year's Day citing the general staff of the Moroccan armed forces.

In the Moroccan cities of Nador, M'diq, and Fnideq, more than 1,110 people were detained Sunday night (December 31) during multiple operations carried out by the army and security forces, according to AFP.

A reported 175 migrants who were apprehended in Nador, close to the border with Melilla, reportedly hailed from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Yemen, the army said.

According to dpa, the migrants hailed from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen and Arab countries. The Moroccan navy reportedly also intercepted two boats with more than 150 migrants on board near Dakhla in Western Sahara that were on their way to the Canary Islands.

The 12-kilometer border between Melilla and Morocco as well as Ceuta's eight-kilometer border are Europe's only land borders with Africa. Despite being protected by fences, migrants frequently try to cross into the European Union (EU) territory in the hope of reaching mainland Europe.

In June 2022, around 2,000 migrants attempted to cross the border from Morocco into Melilla. At least 37 people from sub-Saharan Africa died and 76 people remain missing, according to the human rights organization Amnesty International, which accuses the governments of Spain and Morocco of using "unlawful and lethal force".

Read more: BBC documentary reveals complicity of Moroccan, Spanish authorities in Melilla tragedy

Cooperation agreement

In February of 2023, Spain and Morocco signed a cooperation agreement on migration. Moreover, Morocco has received hundreds of millions of dollars from the EU in recent years to help address the issue.

Tensions between Spain and Morocco peaked in 2021 when Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front, which seeks independence for Western Sahara, was treated for COVID-19 in a Spanish hospital. Moroccans make up the single largest foreign community in Spain, with around 800,000 residents.

Last year, UN refugee agency UNHCR registered 1,745 irregular migrant arrivals to Ceuta and Melilla (through December 24), around two-thirds of them in Ceuta. Scaling the fences, which are fortified with barbed wire, video cameras, and watchtowers, swimming along the coast, or hiding in vehicles is very dangerous, as regular deaths among migrants show.

However, by far the most migrants who made it to Spain arrived on the Canary Islands, with migrants departing from the coast of Morocco and the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

With close to 37,000 sea arrivals, the Atlantic archipelago off the coast of West Africa last year surpassed levels last seen in 2006, the previous record year. More than 500 people died en route to the Canary Islands over the Atlantic Ocean, according to UN migration agency IOM.

Read more: Since 2018, 6 migrants have died per day trying to reach Spain: NGO

with AFP, dpa