At least 34 migrants have died attempting the crossing.
“The situation that Ceuta is going through is absolutely unsustainable,” Juan Jesús Vivas told journalists.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Ceuta on Friday and condemned the border breach which he described as “a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity.”
Spain’s interior ministry, which had initially refused to share estimates from the border, released its own figures shortly after Vivas spoke, estimating that some 50,000 people had crossed from Morocco since Thursday. It added that half had already returned to Morocco, and shared footage of migrants walking back through a border fence door.
The border crisis boiled over with security forces clashing with migrants on the Moroccan side of the border.
Video footage of the border early on Friday showed hundreds of migrants gathered on a hill overlooking Ceuta being dispersed with tear gas by Moroccan forces, while others continued to swim to the Spanish territory.
Rachid Sbihi, who leads a local workers association representing Civil Guard officers, described the situation as a “serious humanitarian crisis,” saying thousands of migrants, including unaccompanied children, were left sleeping in parks and on sidewalks, while others roamed the streets aimlessly. “It’s chaotic.”
Morocco’s Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the migrant figures released by the Spanish authorities.
“We cannot allow anyone to come to our Union without abiding by our rules,” she said in an online statement on Friday. “Dangerous crossings must stop immediately. Smuggling networks must be dismantled. And returns must be swift, as our rules allow.”
