Ceuta Border Stays Calm on Morocco's Election Day Despite Mass-Crossing Call; Four Arrested in Fnideq Clash

The Ceuta-Fnideq border crossing was heavily fortified on Sep 23 as Morocco held legislative elections, after weeks of online calls — including a WhatsApp group named 'El gran asalto del 23 de septiembre' with more than 200 members — urging a repeat of the July 30-31 mass crossing. Moroccan security forces deployed reinforced contingents and water-cannon trucks along the Fnideq-Tétouan-Tangier corridor, while Spain kept extra Civil Guard units in place. In the early morning, a group of sub-Saharan migrants gathered near Fnideq and clashed with Moroccan security forces, resulting in four arrests; no mass crossing materialized and the frontier remained calm through the day. The Sep 20 and Sep 23 crossing calls both fizzled where the July surge had not, which Spanish officials attributed to the coordinated Morocco-Spain security response and the Rabat embassy's counter-disinformation campaign.