About 130 migrants managed to reach the border fences in Melilla after storming. It was the first time a large group of migrants tried to reach Spain via Melilla since diplomatic relations between Rabat and Madrid normalized.
When the countries quarreled over the status of Western Sahara last year, groups of sometimes thousands of migrants stormed the enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta in the summer. After ties were tightened, the Moroccan Border Police regained control of the situation.
Melilla and Ceuta in northern Morocco are a favorite target of illegal migrants, allowing them to reach Spain and the European Union without crossing the Mediterranean. Spain therefore pays a lot of money to Morocco to guard the border.
Morocco lays claim to the two small tracts of land, which have been European property for six hundred years and where 170,000 people live. Ceuta is located just south of Gibraltar and Melilla 225 kilometers to the east.
