When Abdulah Buji heard that the border had been breached, he jumped on his motorbike and sped from his home in northern Morocco to Ceuta, joining tens of thousands of people who tried to swim into the tiny Spanish enclave on North Africa's Mediterranean coast.
Like many others making the crossing, the 21-year-old believed the unprecedented surge might finally open the door to Spain and the better future he had long imagined in Europe.
"Spain gives you the chance to build your future, not like Morocco," said Buji, who is training to become a teacher. "I am a talented young man. I just want a chance."
The excitement of reaching Spanish territory, however, quickly gave way to disappointment. The European mainland remained across the Mediterranean, and the new arrivals were met with a stark message from Spanish authorities: Turn back voluntarily or face deportation.
Buji said he nearly became one of the more than 50 people who died trying to reach Ceuta by swimming around a border fence. He made it across but lost his belongings and money during the crossing. When he realized he would likely face legal limbo and detention, he turned around and headed back.
"I've spent perhaps 14 years studying, but there's nothing at home, and I'd have to work 12-hour shifts for a meager wage," Buji told The Associated Press. "That's why I came here, but I haven't found any opportunities here either, so I have to go back."
Of the 60,000 people who crossed between Thursday and Friday morning, about 45,000 had returned to Moroccan territory within hours after many spent the night on the streets of Ceuta amid startled residents and armed Spanish police officers and soldiers.
The massive influx, equal to about 70% of Ceuta's resident population, prompted local authorities to call for additional police and military forces to restore order. Residents were concerned by the thousands of mostly young men wandering the streets.
Ceuta's residents recalled a similar, though smaller, migration crisis in 2021, when the Moroccan government relaxed border controls and allowed several thousand people from Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa to enter Ceuta over two days. This time, the city faced a much larger humanitarian crisis.
As the first reports and videos of migrants reaching Ceuta spread on social media, more people headed north in hopes of reaching European Union territory.
Train stations in Morocco's capital, Rabat, and its largest city, Casablanca, were crowded with people trying to travel to the border with Ceuta.
Local media showed police officers preventing some of them from boarding trains and buses.
It remains unclear what triggered the influx, but social media was awash with posts encouraging Moroccans to try to enter Ceuta days before it began, said Myriam Cherti, a senior researcher at the University of Oxford's Centre on Migration, Policy and Society. The posts included practical information on how to cross the border and what migrants should say to increase their chances of being allowed to stay.
Cherti said some of the migrants she interviewed over the past year had lost count of the number of times they had tried to cross the border.
"They're doing it out of despair. They're doing it because they've tried other ways to build a life and failed. They're doing it because they feel an obligation to help and support their families," she said. "And that's possible if they make it to Spain and not necessarily possible if they stay in Morocco."
Ahmed Karim, 33, was among those who managed to cross into Ceuta. He doesn't have a job and said the problem is compounded for many Moroccans by the difficulty of traveling outside the country.
He said many Moroccans want to go to Europe or the United States, "but they don't have the opportunity."
Others who crossed were not trying to stay. Instead, they were searching for missing loved ones and hoping they were not among the dead.
Ikrra Khai, 33, is one of thousands of Moroccan women who regularly receive temporary work permits to work on Spanish farms during the harvest season.
On Friday, she was in Ceuta searching for the brother of a close friend.
"I don't know if he is dead or alive," she said. "I have his residency card. But I don't know where he is. I'm searching."
