Melilla Deploys 357 Officers After a Night of Mass Attempts to Cross at Beni Enzar
Around 130 people managed to enter the city, 84 of them minors, while the border crossing remains closed pending a full security sweep of the perimeter
Melilla woke up on Friday with the Beni Enzar border crossing closed following a night marked by several simultaneous attempts at irregular entry into the autonomous city, both by land and by sea. The Spanish government’s representative in Melilla, Sabrina Moh, held a press conference to detail the outcome of the operation and highlight the coordination between the various security forces deployed.
A deployment of nearly 360 officers
According to Moh, a total of 357 Civil Guard and National Police officers took part in the operation carried out overnight, joined by Local Police units and other emergency services from the city. The reinforcement was not improvised: following the Supreme Court’s recent ruling limiting the use of summary “push-backs” at the border, specialized Civil Guard units had already been deployed to Melilla, including the Underwater Activities Specialist Group (GEAS) and the Rapid Intervention Units (NIR).
That ruling, which restricts push-backs to cases where irregular entry occurs by breaching physical barriers such as border fences, has reportedly created a legal gray area that complicates officers’ response to entry attempts made by skirting breakwaters or swimming along the coast.
130 people entered the city, most of them minors
Despite the large deployment, around 130 people managed to reach Melilla overnight across the various attempts recorded — at the main Beni Enzar crossing, the Dique Sur breakwater area, and the former crossing points of Barrio Chino and Farhana. Of these, 84 were minors, who have been placed in the custody of Autonomous City facilities.
The toll of injuries was significant: roughly 60 people received medical attention, mainly for fractures and open wounds, three of whom were taken to hospital. Three officers were also injured — two from the National Police and one from the Civil Guard.
Reopening contingent on security conditions
The Government Delegation stressed that the reopening of Beni Enzar will depend solely on security criteria and on the perimeter being fully cleared, without setting a timeline for now. In the meantime, State security forces remain deployed in the area to prevent further attempted crossings.
The episode is part of a broader day of heightened migratory pressure on Spain’s two North African autonomous cities, with similar incidents also reported at the Ceuta border, and has reignited political debate over the legal gap opened by the Supreme Court ruling.
Article compiled from official sources and news agencies (EFE, Europa Press) on the events of July 30–31, 2026, in Melilla.
