Meta has shut down five major Facebook groups that were actively coordinating large-scale illegal crossings into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, following intense scrutiny on X.
Collectively boasting over 230,000 members, these groups served as hubs for prospective migrants to plan sea routes, exchange phone numbers, buy border-crossing equipment, and coordinate logistics. The closures come amid videos on social media attesting to more than 50,000 migrants having already successfully arrived in the small Spanish enclave bordering Morocco, pushing local security and reception resources to their limits.
The banned groups, which operated under names like Hraga Ceuta and Haraga_ceuta, openly flouted Facebook’s term of service prohibiting the facilitation of human smuggling. Screenshots shared online revealed group members sharing detailed maps of sea routes to Ceuta and Melilla, organizing groups of travelers, and even soliciting paid guiding services. Some posts went as far as to celebrate the crossings, framing the mass migration events as a ‘liberation’ of the Spanish-controlled territory, while others focused purely on practical details, such as how to acquire specialized fence grips.
A controversial regularization decree introduced by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’ government allows illegal immigrants to work from the day they submit an asylum application, suspending any active deportation orders and granting them access to social security once approved.
Although the closure of the coordinating social media pages has disrupted the digital infrastructure used by smuggling networks, local authorities remain on high alert as arrivals continue daily.
