Hundreds of migrants attempt to swim from Morocco to the Spanish territory of Ceuta

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Officials in Spain say thousands of migrants have attempted to cross the border from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in the last few days, including hundreds of youth who tried to swim their way around controls. Videos broadcast on Spanish media over the weekend showed Spanish police intercepting migrants in the water and struggling to separate the new arrivals from crowds of beachgoers. The Spanish government said Monday that since August 22 an average of 700 people had attempted to breach the border daily, with a peak of 1,500 attempts on Sunday. Ceuta and Melilla — two tiny Spanish territories in North Africa — have long been targeted by migrants and refugees seeking better lives in Europe.