Migrant flies like bird by paragliding into Spain from Morocco

Guardia Civil refuse to confirm crossing, despite videos showing flight, as the pilot has not been found

A person seems to have managed to cross the 8.2-kilometre land border from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta by using a paraglider to fly over the razorwire-topped perimeter fence.

The incident took place in broad daylight on Friday and a video on social media appears to show part of their flight from the Moroccan mountain of Yebel Musa coming down inside the autonomous city on the North African coast.

The Guardia Civil were alerted and surveillance cameras from the force’s operations centre (COS) helped pinpoint the exact location where the paraglider had landed.

The large and multicoloured device was discovered amongst vegetation on Friday afternoon in the area of Sidi Ibrahim, and several patrols were deployed to sweep the area.

Officers removed the paraglider from the scene, but the individual who used it was not found.

It is presumed they must have had some knowledge or training in paragliding, as no one was found injured at the landing site.

The investigation remains open in an attempt to determine the identity of the individual, but authorities have not yet been able to confirm whether they were of sub-Saharan origin.

Indeed, a Guardia Civil spokesperson told state news agency EFE that it is not even possible to confirm this event with certainty, despite the circulation of several videos on social media showing the flight from Morocco.

Previous incidents

This is the first time such an incident has occurred in Ceuta, but not the first time that someone crossed the Spanish border in this way.

In 2022, a paraglider managed to fly from Morocco into Spain’s other autonomous city in Africa, Melilla, which has been repeated since on at least two confirmed occasions.

Earlier this summer, groups of sub-Saharan migrants living in Moroccan areas such as La Mujer Muerta uploaded videos to platforms like TikTok showing paragliders and stating their intention to cross into Ceuta using them.

Some even shared rudimentary guides, outlining the routes to follow, accompanied by numerous videos from fellow countrymen already in Ceuta, showing vulnerable points along the border fence and explaining how to climb over.

This summer there have been sub-Saharan migrants crossing by sea without assistance.

Unlike in the past, they were not guided by so-called “human motors” (experienced migrants tied to the newcomers to steer them), nor were they using flotation devices.

Coincidentally, around the same time as the paraglider incident on Friday, the Guardia Civil intercepted a migrant swimming in El Foso, Ceuta’s seawater moat, using a snorkel.

Upon being stopped, they found that he was already a resident at the city’s CETI (Temporary Migrant Reception Centre), but the reasons for his excursion remain a matter of speculation.

Image: Freiheitsjunkie / Pixabay