Footage of man at sea with selfie stick falsely linked to Spain's migrant crisis
- Published on August 6, 2026 at 08:15
- 2 min read
- By Vishesh SINGH, AFP India
Tens of thousands of people, mostly Moroccans, entered Spain's north African territory of Ceuta on foot or by swimming in late July, but a video shared by various media organisations showing a young man filming himself while swimming is unrelated. The footage was shot in the Moroccan Atlantic port city of El Jadida and the man in the clip denied he has set foot in Ceuta.
"A Moroccan migrant swam to Ceuta and entered Spain illegally, recording a video with a selfie stick," reads a Hindi-language Instagram post published by Indian media organisation NDTV on August 1, 2026.
The post includes a video of a young man swimming while holding what appears to be a selfie stick.
Arabic media organisation Al Arabiya and Dominican Republic broadcaster Noticias Telemicro also published the same footage saying it shows a Moroccan man swimming towards Ceuta.
Ceuta, a former Roman colony with a population of 84,000, lies just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain, and is often considered a launchpad for clandestine immigration to continental Europe (archived link).
Migrants, mostly Moroccans, started entering the Spanish territory in late July, either on foot or by swimming from the nearby city of Fnideq, with the influx ballooning to tens of thousands by August 1 -- sparking a diplomatic crisis between Spain and its EU partners (archived link).
Many migrants drowned as they tried to swim around a barrier in the Mediterranean Sea, with the Spanish government's delegation in Ceuta announcing a death toll of more than 70 people (archived link).
By August 5, Spain said 70,000 of the 72,000 migrants who entered Ceuta from Morocco have returned.
Similar posts of the clip with the young man swimming spread on Instagram, Facebook and in multiple languages including French and Bengali.
But the footage is unrelated to the recent migrant rush.
A reverse image search of keyframes on Google found the same video posted on Instagram on July 30, 2026 (archived link).
The individual has posted multiple swimming videos filmed at the same location.
In a video shared on August 2, the creator said he was in the port city of El Jadida, on the eastern Moroccan coast (archived link).
"I have never even been to Ceuta. I am in El Jadida. El Jadida, I have never actually left it my entire life," he said in Arabic.
Google Maps Street View imagery of El Jadida matched the stretch of concrete structure seen in the Instagram video (archived link).
AFP has debunked other false claims related to Spain's migrant crisis.
Copyright © AFP 2017-2026. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
