A migrant from neighboring Morocco managed to paraglide into Spain’s Melilla region on Thursday, Spanish authorities revealed this Friday.
“At 6:15pm (5:15pm in Lisbon), two people traveling in a car (in Melilla) saw a man on a paraglider fly over the high-security barrier that separates the enclave from Morocco and enter Melilla,” a spokesman for the enclave’s local authority told Agence France-Presse (AFP). .
The cities of Ceuta and Melilla are two Spanish enclaves bordering Morocco and the European Union’s two land borders with Africa.
The two witnesses “alerted the civil police” but “could not find the settler”, added the same source.
A spokesman for the municipality said it was “the first time” that a migrant had entered Melilla by paraglider.
Meter-high wire barriers, equipped with cameras and watchtowers, mark the border between Morocco and these enclaves, and are sometimes the subject of deadly attempts to cross.
On June 24, at least 23 migrants died trying to enter Melilla, the highest death toll ever recorded during migrant infiltration attempts in these two Spanish regions.
The tragedy sparked international outrage, with the UN condemning the “excessive use of force” by Moroccan and Spanish authorities.
Migrants sometimes try to swim to these areas from neighboring Moroccan locations.
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”