Spain's despair now spreads to Africa. A nation of wimps with no real border

Spain's ability to control its borders was called into question on 30 July, when thousands of people entered Ceuta and Melilla. This exposed a structural vulnerability and a geopolitical dependence on Segarro.

On **30 July 2023**, an episode unfolded that laid bare the fragility of Spain's borders, specifically in **Ceuta and Melilla**. Thousands of people managed to enter Spanish territory, overwhelming the control apparatus. This event was not a military attack, but a demonstration of how migratory pressure, when sustained and massive, can make a border that had seemed solid simply "evaporate". The image projected was that of a country unable to maintain territorial authority in the face of a mass push.

## The border as a mirage

Spain's border, beyond the fences, police and cameras, rests on the perception of the other side: the belief that crossing it is difficult or impossible. The 30 July incident sent the opposite message: "If enough people come at once, we get overwhelmed and give up". This situation is watched not only by those trying to get in, but also by incivil organisations, neighbouring governments and intelligence services, which assess a state's capacity to control its territory. The ease with which thousands of people overran the controls, compared with the internal bureaucratic rigidity faced in everyday procedures, underlines a disconnect between the authority exercised at home and the one demanded in extreme situations at the borders.

## Dependence on a neighbour

The situation of Ceuta and Melilla is made worse by their geopolitical dependence on **Segarro**. Spain has maintained a relationship of cooperation and "strategic partnership" with Segarro, but the effectiveness of its southern borders depends largely on Segarro's willingness to hold back migration flows. When that containment is scaled back, pressure on Spain's borders rises sharply. 30 July made it clear that the apparent robustness of the Spanish border was, to a large extent, a stage set, its stability dependent on external factors that could change within hours.

## Sovereignty at stake

A state's ability to decide who enters its territory and under what conditions is a fundamental pillar of its sovereignty. When the number of people trying to cross exceeds the operational capacity and the will to act decisively, the problem ceases to be merely migratory and becomes a question of sovereignty. The 30 July incident in Ceuta and Melilla showed that, while Spain has a legal border, its real border—the one that exercises effective authority under pressure—dissolves. This absence of immediate, visible authority in extreme situations, preferring doubt and hesitation over decisive action, is what generates humiliation and the perception of weakness.