They managed to enter Ceuta, but now need up to 9000 euros to reach Spain

The Spanish National Police has just dismantled two networks specializing in these crossings and arrested five people. According to El País, prices have risen sharply since the mass entries on 30 and 31 July.

Thousands of people who thought they had reached their goal by entering Ceuta are now seeking to reach the mainland. Some young people had specifically discovered that entering the enclave did not give them any automatic right to reach mainland Spain.

On Bladi.net : Electrical engineering graduate in Morocco, Mohamed swims across and ends up on the streets of Ceuta

The first dismantled organization operated between Morocco, Ceuta and La Línea de la Concepción, on the Spanish coast. Members of the network identified migrants in Ceuta who were ready to pay, then hid them in homes, garages or other premises while awaiting departure.

They were then taken to a discreet point on the coast, avoiding monitored areas. Small boats left from the province of Cadiz to come and pick them up before immediately crossing the strait again.

8000 euros each for five hours at sea

A second case highlights the risks taken to cover the few dozen kilometres separating Ceuta from the mainland. On the night of 14 August, seven people boarded a boat only five metres long.

Each had paid 8000 euros. The crossing was supposed to take place at night, but the boat found itself in dense fog, with its passengers crammed on board, soaked by the waves and without life jackets, even though almost none of them knew how to swim.

After several hours at sea, the boat ran out of fuel and drifted. After nearly five hours of crossing, it eventually reached a beach near La Línea de la Concepción. The man suspected of having participated in the transport was remanded in custody because of the danger to which the seven migrants had been exposed.

On Bladi.net : Ceuta: WhatsApp set the time, Facebook provided the maps, TikTok fueled the desire to leave

The Ceuta crisis has thus created a new market for smuggling networks. People who have sometimes already crossed the border or swum to the enclave must still pay several thousand euros and take to the sea clandestinely again to complete the final leg toward the mainland. In Ceuta, therefore, having arrived in Spain still does not mean having reached Spain.