A man has died trying to paraglide from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta.
The suspected migrant flew from the Benzu mountains near the border between the countries on Friday morning, according to the Spanish Civil Guard.
As he attempted to land, the man lost control and fell into the sea with his body being recovered after the incident by Spanish officers. He is reported to have been of sub-Saharan origin.
Spain’s civil guard told The Independent that the man had “jumped off a mountain and fell into the sea” and that “he was picked by maritime police but he was already dead.”
It is the latest attempted crossing after over 72,000 people rushed the border from Morocco into Ceuta at the end of July, with at least 83 people reported dead.
Some drowned in the crossing while others were killed in a stampede at the Tarajal beach fence near a border checkpoint.
On Sunday, another body in an advanced state of decomposition was recovered by Spanish authorities shortly after a North African man was found dead in his swimming trunks, according to EFE.
“They have no flight training, sometimes they are given a course lasting barely a few minutes before taking off,” said local police union spokesman Diego Madraza.
“Recently in Morocco, a gang that trained migrants in this type of entry using paragliders was dismantled. As soon as one door closes on them, another opens, so now detection can no longer be only be sea or land, but it can also be aerial.”
Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez called the incident last month an “attack on Spain’s territorial integrity” and vowed to “use all the resources of the state to guarantee security and coexistence” in a statement following the surge.
The unprecedented surge in crossings led to a diplomatic fallout with Italy’s prime minister Georgia Meloni calling for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen zone.
Italy announced border controls on Spanish travellers with Spain announcing reciprocal restrictions on Italians on Friday.
Ceuta and the larger Spanish territory of Melilla, which is some 400km (250 miles) east of it, are located on the Mediterranean coast at the tip of Africa, they hold the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.
In 2022, there were reports that a migrant paraglided across the Morocco border into Melilla and landed near a rode alongside a border fence. Police were unable to locate the person.
On Friday, members of the European Commission met with Meta and TikTok to discuss misinformation over Ceuta amid reports that the surge had been triggered by social media posts urging Moroccans to cross over.
“Platforms must act decisively in keeping the integrity of the digital space, in particular during crisis situations,” wrote Henna Virkkunen, executive vice president for tech, security and democracy at the Commission.
“Monitoring must increase, cooperation with fact-checkers to be strengthened.”
Both Morocco and Spain blamed the crisis on people smugglers as right-wing commentators in the UK suggested that the crisis could reach other countries.
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