Spain knows invasion. Around the year 720, Muslim armies swept across the Iberian Peninsula, conquering nearly the entire region. For more than 700 years, parts of Spain remained under Muslim rule, with the last stronghold, Granada, only reclaimed in 1492. The Reconquista took centuries, a reminder that territory can be lost far faster than it is regained.
That history is impossible to ignore today. In less than a day, Spain’s North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla were overwhelmed as an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 Moroccan migrants crossed the border in coordinated waves. According to reports, the overwhelming majority were military-aged men, not families seeking refuge. Videos appearing online showed thousands pouring across the frontier while buses and trucks on the Moroccan side allegedly continued transporting more people to the border.
So how did Spain reach this point? The answer lies not just in geography but in political decisions made in both Rabat and Madrid. Moroccan authorities have been accused of emptying prisons and directing inmates towards the Spanish border, while reports also point to high youth unemployment and rumours that migrants who reached the enclaves would not be immediately returned.
Those rumours were fuelled by a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling that made it more difficult to immediately turn back migrants intercepted while attempting to reach Ceuta and Melilla. Critics say the decision, combined with Spain’s existing immigration policies, encouraged the unprecedented rush.
At the centre of the political debate stands Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. His government is pushing a plan to grant citizenship to around half a million illegal migrants, arguing it would regularise their status. The plan, some argue, rewards illegal entry and simply erases the problem by redefining it.
Sanchez has also faced corruption allegations, with his wife reportedly under investigation, while critics have raised questions about his relationship with Alex Soros, son of George Soros. There are also allegations of Iranian influence surrounding Sanchez’s government, alongside what he describes as an increasingly anti-American and anti-Israel foreign policy.
Those criticisms extend beyond immigration. Sanchez’s government has drawn scrutiny after refusing US requests to use American military bases in Spain to refuel aircraft, a move that reflects a broader shift away from Spain’s traditional Western alliances.
History offers uncomfortable reminders that even great civilisations can decline. Constantinople was once the richest and most influential Christian city in the world before falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 and becoming Istanbul. More than two centuries later, Europe narrowly avoided another turning point when Ottoman forces were defeated at Vienna. These moments are reminders that history does not always repeat itself in the same way, but it often echoes.
The storming of Ceuta and Melilla has also drawn comparisons to the Mariel boatlift, when Fidel Castro emptied Cuban prisons and sent criminals to the United States among waves of migrants. Critics argue Morocco may be employing a similar tactic, using migration as leverage while offloading domestic problems onto Europe.
The consequences extend well beyond Spain. With the Schengen system allowing free movement across much of Europe, critics fear migrants who entered through Ceuta and Melilla could eventually make their way to countries including France, Italy, Germany and beyond, turning a Spanish border crisis into a continental one.
The scenes unfolding in Spain are more than another migration story. They are a warning that Spain has faced conquest before, and a reminder that nations which fail to defend their borders risk learning the same lessons history has already taught.
