The Unstoppable Force of the Migrant Tide

Moroccan migrants are seen on a dinghy as they cross the Strait of Gibraltar sailing from the coast of Morocco before disembarking at 'Del Canuelo' beach in Tarifa on Friday

"The Spanish government’s actions when it came to the Aquarius were good given all that’s happening in the Mediterranean right now."
"You can’t let people die and that’s why we needed that symbolic act of humanity and solidarity from the government. But the Aquarius also showed us what needs to be done in terms of intervention and reception. And that isn’t happening here."
"If they’d had the foresight to build a centre in all the years that have gone by, we wouldn’t have men, women and children – including babies – sleeping on the floors of sports centres in different cities, in the waiting room at Algeciras port or in police stations. This is a really awful situation.”
"I’ve seen what the wire [razor wire topping border fences at Melilla and Ceuta] does to people: it doesn’t cut you; it rips you."
“I’ve served as a chaplain at the CIEs [foreign internment centres] and it broke my heart every week when I went. They should not exist. Migrants who arrive have committed an administrative offence by arriving in Spain without the necessary documentation but they’re being locked up in a place that’s guarded by police and which, in many cases, has bars. They’re being detained."
Father Gabriel Delgado, Cádiz, Spain

"We’re taking them in on a daily basis [migrants off ships]. They’re just not called the Aquarius and they’re little boats. It may not be as striking as a boat drifting in the Mediterranean, but it’s the reality of what we’re seeing on the coasts of southern Spain on, sadly, a daily basis."
"[The maritime rescue service and NGOs are doing an extraordinary job]. Where we need help is with economic resources to improve and widen these capacities."
"But what’s fundamental is the need to come up with measures on development, dialogue, cooperation and improving things in the countries of origin and countries of transit."
Spain’s new prime minister, Pedro Sánchez

Spain's humanitarian dedication to welcoming migrants from Africa to its shores is now placing it in the position that Greece and Italy were mired in for years. When Italy's new government decided that enough was more than enough and refused to accept the Aquarius with its latest invasion of migrants to Italy, Spain stepped up and offered to take them in. That kind of selfless compassion has its cost; word spreads and Spain has become the latest easy entry point for those seeking to improve their prospects by leaving their failed countries of origin.

The first migrants from the Aquarius, a ship that was turned away by Italy and Malta sparking a major migration row in Europe, disembarked at the Spanish port of Valencia on June 17, 2018. (PAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images)

Europe is drowning in refugees and economic migrants; its generous impulse to share the advances it has made in providing a decent life for its populations suddenly in high demand by the world's less fortunate. There are, needless to say, official entry points where applications for asylum or immigration are formally made and considered by authorities of the host countries. But none of the tens of thousands of 'refugees' and asylum seekers have any interest in law and order and fairness, in acknowledging that there is an existing waiting list that their impulsive demands are complicating.

Spain's coast guard union is "overwhelmed", in their words, by the steep and never-ending rise in migrant crossings. A human tide requiring rescue from the flimsy rafts floating them over the Strait of Gibraltar, others coming overland in a violent spree of breaching borders. And in the last day, Spanish beachgoers were suddenly jerked out of their complacent enjoyment of a summer day when their beach was suddenly a little more crowded when a flimsy boat arrived to unload fifty Africans who speedily ran off after asking the beachgoers for food.

The Maritime Rescue agency urgently calls on aid so it can continue to cope with the "massive arrival of immigrants" on Spain's unprepared shores. More crew required to save lives afloat in an unfriendly sea. "An absolute overflow of work" for maritime resource centers has resulted from the "extraordinary upturn" in arrivals, cries out for more help for crews already operating with "insufficient" crew levels went the plea.

On Friday morning alone 35 rafts bursting with 627 people came in off the Strait of Gibraltar, raising the number that arrived in this week alone to 2,000. Spain is now considered to be the gateway of choice for migrants crossing the Mediterranean to access Europe. Over 20,000 such individuals breached Spanish shores this year, figures reached by the International Organization for Migration. Italy no longer can boast or groan, that it takes in larger numbers, and, in fact, no longer will agree to.

Thursday's violence at Ceuta, the outpost in Morocco, where over 600 migrants forced entry into Spain stands out for the vicious event it was, when once across the breached fence, migrants attacked the Guardia Civil stationed there with weapons and chemicals and fire. Despite which the attackers were not turned back, not arrested but ushered toward an migrant intake station to make their claims for haven, even while their forced entry was described by security forces as "unprecedented violence".

Reception centres in Spain are beyond saturated, and Spain now blames Italy's refusal to accept any longer those leaving Libya to cross the Mediterranean, where the new government has barred the docking of rescue ships. And while Spain mulls over the necessity of helping the countries that are bleeding citizens to transform them into places where their nationals will want to stay and aid in the building of nations where opportunities to flourish and human rights are respected, in Africa and the Middle East, the concerned nations themselves remain oblivious to any need to transform themselves.

Spanish beachgoers amazed at the sight of migrants spilling out of a boat and sprinting off.