FEATURE | Spain calls in the military after border controls break down in Ceuta

Morocco's Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Open-borders activist Zakaria Zarroqui said people were still flocking to the Moroccan city of Fnideq in an attempt to cross into Ceuta and the situation was still out of control.

Mauricio Valiente, director of the Spanish Commission for Refugees, which has lawyers working in Ceuta, said the illegal migrants crossing into the enclave were of Moroccan and sub-Saharan origin, including families with people of different ages.

While acknowledging that the situation was chaotic, he said it, "can be perfectly addressed by the Spanish state", which has sufficient capacity to receive those who may be seeking asylum.

(Additional reporting by David Latona, Emma Pinedo, Ahmed El Jechtimi, Victoria Waldersee and Corina Pons; writing by Andrei Khalip, editing by Sharon Singleton and Alistair Belll)