A rumour, a rush: chaos at Morocco border with Spain's Ceuta

When Fatima Zahra heard the rumour of a rare border opening between Morocco and Spain, she joined thousands in rushing to attempt a perilous journey into the Ceuta enclave by land or sea. AFP images showed people swimming around Ceuta's frontier fence and others clambering over barbed wire to reach European soil, as Moroccan riot police fired tear gas and water cannons at crowds after an apparent breakdown of border controls. Ceuta, a Spanish territory of 18.5 square kilometres (seven square miles) in north Africa, and similar enclave Melilla, have Europe's only two land borders with its southern neighbouring continent. Zahra was eventually turned away at the Moroccan border town of Fnideq, but Ceuta's regional president said some 60,000 people have successfully entered the tiny territory