Young migrants have been filming themselves cheering at their arrival in the Spanish territory of Ceuta, luring thousands of other youths to join them.
Some videos have racked up millions of views and thousands of comments in what has become a first-of-its-kind social media trend with dire consequences.
More than 60,000 people illegally crossed the Spanish border from Morocco last week – the single largest crossing of its kind in the European Union‘s history.
Many of them said they had seen viral videos of the migrants entering Spain‘s North African enclave and decided to join them en masse in hopes of a better life.
Around 100 people are believed to have died while making their journey – including several children and two women – with some swimming for 10 hours before they could make it to shore.
One video of teenage Moroccans and young men shows them cheering in the streets after conquering the treacherous crossing.
The clip has amassed more than 217,000 views and nearly 6,000 likes, with commenters egging them on, saying: ‘Hamdulilah, may Allah grant you guys everything you dream of.’
A young boy is seen kneeling in the middle of the street with his wetsuit peeled half off and punching the air in triumph as more young men stride towards him down the road.
They then join him in celebration and start cheering with the cameraman, who turns the phone to record himself, revealing he is a young boy too.
One viral video from Ceuta shows a young boy kneeling with his wetsuit peeled half off and punching the air in triumph
Other young men join the celebrations in the video which has amassed more than 200,000 views
More than 60,000 people illegally crossed the Spanish border from Morocco last week
He is surrounded by two other youths who appear to have just come out of the sea and are still dripping wet.
One video of a boy energetically swimming in the sea to Arabic music has received more than 1.4 million views.
A commenter said: ‘May Allah protect my people from every obstacle and every storm.’
The creator of this video, known only as Ghoufrane on TikTok, is something of a migration influencer, with four videos on his account all promoting travelling to Ceuta and each receiving tens of thousands of views and likes.
Migrants have shown reporters at the scene social media videos with people shouting ‘Spain is open’ before jumping into the sea.
Many of the videos were posted to accounts which had only been created in recent weeks, with clips of young people in wetsuits and fins, or, like Ghoufrane, filming themselves already swimming.
Questions have been raised on whether these videos simply happened to go viral by chance, or it was something more deliberate, or even organised.
The response from the Spanish government has been highly criticised domestically and internationally as locals shut up their shops over fears of looting and migrants heaped up on streets to bed down for the night.
Left-wing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been slated for sharing his summer playlist along with a relaxed selfie at the start of his holidays, as Ceuta picks up the pieces of its dramatic migrant crisis.
Locals jeered at Mr Sanchez and called him a ‘Son of a b****’ when he visited the city on Friday.
He blamed the crisis on human smuggling mafias taking advantage of a recent Spanish Supreme Court decision banning summary returns of migrants intercepted in open water attempting to swim into Ceuta or its other North African enclave of Melilla, 240 miles east by road.
However, the King of Spain Felipe VI unleashed his criticism on the government yesterday afternoon.
He expressed his ‘great concern and indignation’ over the ‘serious’ events and said that Spain needed to show ‘in a united, clear and decisive way to the populations of Ceuta and Melilla the support and affection of the rest of Spain’
He added: ‘The State must ensure their safety and to prevent these events – which, in addition, have resulted in a sad and tragic loss of dozens of lives – from being repeated.’
Other videos of young men swimming to shore in Ceuta have garnered millions of views, luring in more youths
Some migrants said they had to swim for more than 10 hours to get to shore in Ceuta
Migrants had no access to any facilities so were forced to shower on the beach after crossing
Other European nations also weighed in with great alarm as Italy temporarily cut off its Schengen agreement with Spain over the crisis, halting freedom of movement between the countries.
The interior ministers of the EU are to meet urgently on Tuesday to discuss what to do about the huge influx of migrants.
A letter from EU heads of state signed by 22 member countries accuses Madrid of sending unwelcome signals with its recent decisions on migration, including the Supreme Court decision.
The letter also criticised Spanish policy from April, which initiated the legalisation of around 500,000 irregular migrants as a measure to combat the labour shortage.
In the face of this criticism however, Mr Sanchez accused his fellow EU members of a ‘selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction’.
The Spanish PM – whose government is mired by ongoing corruption scandals involving former aides and his family – is now holidaying at a Spanish royal family residence in Lanzarote after flying to the island on an army jet.
And the insults he faced when he travelled to Ceuta on Friday before thousands of migrants made the return journey to Morocco after going hungry and finding shops shut and a temporary refugee holding centre overwhelmed, were continuing today following his playlist blunder.
Sanchez relaxed in an armchair as he told his two million Instagram followers: ‘This summer I have prepared you a list with some of the songs I’m listening to most this year.
‘It’s quite eclectic and I’m going to highlight three that will give you an idea of where I’m heading.’
He went on to flag a song called ‘El Baifo’ by Quevedo, a singer and rapper brought up in the Canary Islands, SS26 by British singer and songwriter Charli XCX, and a third by Spanish artist Melanie Garcia called Tantas Cosas which in English translates as ‘So Many Things.’
He finished his selfie video, which also featured songs by Stereolab and WILLOW by saying: ‘I hope you like it and you can listen to it during your holidays. Happy Summer.’
Around 100 people are believed to have died while making their journey – including several children and two women
Thousands of these young migrants have been forced to return to their Moroccan homeland after going hungry and finding shut shops and an overwhelmed refugee holding centre
Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez has come under heavy fire at home and abroad for his reaction to the crisis, posting a holiday music playlist to his social media
Javier Sanz, a Spanish musician and investor better known online as JaviZone, responded by saying: ‘With everything you’re dealing with, does no-one think these scheduled reels only make people even more upset?’
Another critic said: ‘I would feel embarrassed talking about playlists when they are invading our country.’
A third blasted: ‘They’re invading our country and you’re listening to Quevedo.’
Eduardo Inda, a well-known Spanish journalist and the founder and current director of digital newspaper OKdiario, branded Sanchez a ‘psychopath’ and said he was ‘insulting the intelligence’ of his citizens with his playlist publication.
He said, referencing La Mareta where Sanchez and his family are currently staying: ‘What does a normal Prime Minister do if they invade your country?
‘The first thing would be to deploy the army to drive out the invader; second, convene Parliament to unite forces; and third declare a state of siege.
‘Pedro Sanchez has not implemented any of these measures, beyond deploying just over 100 Army personnel which is an insult to intelligence.’
He added: ‘What he has done instead is go on holiday to La Mareta, go diving and live like a king, because after all La Mareta is a Royal Residence.
‘What’s more he’s now showed off a music playlist, insulting the intelligence and laughing at all us Spaniards and the extremely serious situation Ceuta is experiencing.
‘All of this proves that we are governed by a genuine psychopath who is getting worse every day and needs psychiatric treatment.’
Today Santiago Abascal, the leader of hard-right opposition Vox, is due to visit Ceuta. He is one of Pedro Sanchez’s most vocal critics.
Mr Sanchez has condemned what he described as an ‘attack’ on Spain’s ‘territorial integrity’.
