Of 72k migrants, 70k have returned: Spain

Spain has returned to Morocco 70,000 of 72,000 migrants who entered its north African territory of Ceuta last week, the country's interior minister said on Tuesday.

"We have reasonably established that 72,000 people irregularly entered Spain and 70,000 have already left," Fernando Grande-Marlaska told a press conference in Madrid after a video call with EU counterparts, updating an earlier figure of 50,000 arrivals.

Toll Increases to 72


Last week's irregular entry of tens of thousands of migrants from Morocco to Spain's north African territory of Ceuta left 75 people dead, officials said on Tuesday, raising the figure from 72.

The Spanish government's delegation in Ceuta confirmed the figure after the rush from July 30 saw many migrants drown as they tried to swim around a barrier in the Mediterranean Sea.

Spain says 70,000 of the 72,000 migrants who reached Ceuta have returned to Morocco, but those who remain face squalid living conditions with difficult access to shelter, food, water and sanitation.