“Why are so many people online lately?” a user wrote in a Facebook group on July 26, 2026. Signs of mobilisation and coordination were already visible in these social media spaces. A day later, on the 27th, it spread to WhatsApp groups: that day a user shared the first link in a Facebook group with nearly 200,000 members with the text “WhatsApp group to try to enter/cross into Ceuta.” These posts are part of an ecosystem of messages that increased in the last days of July and represent the first instances of coordination and organisation among Facebook users to cross into Ceuta.
Maldita.es has monitored 21 Facebook groups that promoted crossings from Ceuta to Morocco on July 30 and 31, and where another crossing is currently being organised for August 15. While the July crossing began to be organised in these social media groups, the mid-August crossing has migrated to the encrypted messaging platform where, as of August 6, Maldita.es has identified 20 groups planning an entry into Ceuta for August 15 (or even earlier). The Facebook groups remain active and continue to be used as a platform for coordination.
From a trickle at the beginning of July to an explosion at the end of the month: this is how the mobilisation emerged
Of the Facebook groups analyzed by Maldita.es, the oldest was created on October 25, 2014, and the most recent was opened on July 30, 2026. Therefore, all but the most recent were already active before the influx of irregular migrants into Ceuta at the end of July of this year, including the group with the largest number of members and the highest volume of posts: “Ceuta 🏊🏼♂️ 🇪🇸 Castillejos.” This group, with over 190,000 members, was created in March 2025, and its description reads: “Emigration is a dream, and dreams are meant to be fulfilled. Dare to pursue it or leave.”
If we analyse them chronologically, we can see how users began to organise themselves:
On July 27, the first jump to WhatsApp groups
The first link to a WhatsApp group referencing the Ceuta border crossing that we found is from July 27th. It was posted by a user claiming to be from Algeria in the group “Ceuta 🏊🏼♂️ 🇪🇸 Castillejos”. Maldita.es has not been able to independently verify that the user is actually from Algeria, since although they include a location, they may not be where they claim to be; furthermore, their profile picture is an Algerian flag taken from the internet, and the user provides no further information to confirm this.
On the 30th, the same profile shared this WhatsApp link again in another Facebook group called “Castillejos🙋Puerta de Ceuta,” this time without the text. A day earlier, a user had also anonymously shared it in that same group. On the 30th, it was shared again by another anonymous user, so we cannot verify if it is the same account.
Thus, Facebook was used as a recruitment platform , while the logistical discussions took place in WhatsApp groups. Between the end of July and the first days of August, at least 19 different links to groups on this messaging app were shared at least 36 times in Facebook groups linked to Ceuta, Castillejos, and the harraga communities (a term meaning 'those who burn' and used to refer to undocumented migrants who cross the sea in small boats or jump borders into Europe). July 30th and 31st were the days on which these links were shared most frequently .
“Why are people connecting so much lately?” Users encouraging crossings or looking for travel companions were already active before July 27
In the days leading up to the publication of the first link to a WhatsApp group, other users shared their phone numbers or asked to be contacted by private message: they were ooking for other people to join them from specific locations .
This is the case of the user who, on July 21, wrote in the Facebook group “Ceuta 🏊🏼♂️ 🇪🇸 Castillejos”: “People with experience crossing fences. We need two experienced people. We want to attack if we can.” In the following days, the same profile made more posts in different groups on the social network trying to recruit more people. For example, on July 26, he wrote: “Hi everyone, I need a few more people to complete a large group. Tomorrow we will do something nice for the neighborhood, Allah willing. I won't say when because there are already people with us, may Allah guide them. Anyone who wants to join is welcome, but with one condition: they must be decent and honorable men.” This same user also included his personal phone number in another post on July 25 so that people could contact him.
On the 22nd of that month, another user, showing his location in Agadir (southwest of Morocco), wrote in the same group: “Brothers, I’m coming up on Friday, a guy and I are coming from Riffièn (near Castillejos); whoever lives near El Jadida (south of Casablanca) can come, we’ll go together. WhatsApp: 0680…”.
Two days later, on July 24, an anonymous user wrote: “Brothers who live in Salé (near Rabat) and want to go kayaking, let’s go together!” On the 28th, another profile located in Tangier posted: “Brothers, who’s up for the challenge of swimming or kayaking to Ceuta these days? I’m ready, one man who can hold his own or three, it doesn’t matter, we’ll get there.”
On July 26, an anonymous user asked a key question: “Why are so many people online lately?” “It is clear,” another replies.
That same day, the 26th, we found another user who posted the same text up to five times in the same group , with only a few minutes between them: “Guys, is there anyone who wants to risk it with me from Castillejos to Ceuta and who knows how to swim? Whoever wants to, welcome tomorrow, God willing.”
“The fence separating Ceuta and Morocco at sea is open, you don’t need to swim, it’s open. Get up, this opportunity is unlikely to come again.” It was the afternoon of July 30th when the alarm began to be raised in these groups, while links to WhatsApp groups continued to be shared to organize the crossing that night. By August 1st, talk began on the 15th as the new date to cross.
Logistics and advice: kayaking takes center stage
Much of the logistical coordination also involves obtaining tools and equipment for the sea crossing. For example, some are looking for kayaks to cross : “Guys, I want to go to Ceuta this month by kayak. Who wants to try it with me? The important thing is that whoever wants to come has a kayak, contributes to the purchase, or that we all buy one together,” said a Facebook user on July 31.
Others request or offer jet skis and other types of motorboats. Many ask for advice on floats or how to get them: “I want to cross with two boys next week swimming with a small float (just for resting). Any advice?” one user asks.
Besides tools for crossing the sea, some also display and ask for fence hooks . We found one user who posted the same text 25 times in a Facebook group: “Anyone who has hooks to sell, please write to me,” along with a photo.
Among the users, there are those who try to organise the next crossing: “We go up on the 14th and enter on the 15th/8 (guys from Marrakech)”, posted one user on August 1st; “The 15th and also the 25th: entry to Ceuta”, publishes another.
There are also more skeptical users. “Will there really be anything happening in Castillejos on the 15th?” asks another. There are even those offering money and asking if anyone can smuggle them into Ceuta for 10,000 dirhams (about 930 euros) .
What do people talk about in these groups after July 30th and 31st?
In the first days of August, the dominant conversation on Facebook revolved around the dead and missing; what the Spanish, Moroccan, and international press were saying; the coordination of the next crossing; and the call to action for August 15. The narrative that “ Ceuta is an occupied Moroccan city ” was also circulating.
At Maldita.es, we mainly distinguish three types of conversation: those who coordinate and plan a new post ; those who search for relatives or mourn the deceased; and everything related to current events and press publications.
August 2nd stood out as a day when relatives of some of those who crossed the river at the end of July or in the days prior searched for them, primarily by sharing their photos . In the following days, the email address set up by the Civil Guard to gather information about the victims, whose death toll has so far reached 141, was also shared .
There are also those who claim to have arrived in Ceuta and are asking for help, as they say they have no supplies: “Brothers, I am in Ceuta, lost in the woods. I haven't eaten for two days and I have no clothes. May Allah protect you. If anyone knows anyone, please help me. I am in the woods near the mosque next to the kindergarten,” another user writes on Facebook.
Members of these groups are also warned that the authorities are aware of the August 15th plan , which could lead to increased security measures and reinforcements. Furthermore, content related to the arrival of migrants in Ceuta at the end of July is being shared, such as a video of a child pleading with the military not to deport him.
For this article, we collaborated with AFCN (Arab Fact-Checking Network), who belongs to the Arab Reporters of Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) organization.
Methodological note: We analyzed 21 Facebook groups with coverage from July 30 to August 5, 2026. The conclusions are based only on these groups and on the analysis by Maldita.es and should not be taken as absolute or applicable to all groups that exist about crossing from Morocco to Ceuta.