Selfie stick video of a man at sea falsely linked to Spain’s migrant crisis
- Published on August 10, 2026 at 11:47
- 2 min read
- By Vishesh SINGH, Tendai DUBE, AFP India, AFP South Africa
In late July, tens of thousands of people, mostly Moroccans, entered Spain's North African territory of Ceuta by land or sea. A video has since been shared by various media outlets of a man swimming with a selfie stick, but this is false; the footage was taken in the Moroccan Atlantic port city of El Jadida and is unrelated to this event. The man in the clip said he has not entered Ceuta.
“A viral video showed an undocumented Moroccan migrant filming himself *swimming* into Ceuta — a small Spanish territory sitting on the northern tip of Africa. Selfie stick in hand. Ocean beneath him. Europe just meters away,” reads an Instagram video caption published on July 31, 2026.
The @african.echo’s post includes a video of a man swimming while holding what appears to be a selfie stick.
India’s media organisation NDTV published a similar claim in Hindi, as well as the Arabic broadcaster Al Arabiya and the Dominican Republic broadcaster Noticias Telemicro.
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.
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 of El Jadida matched the stretch of concrete structure seen in the Instagram video (archived link).
AFP Fact Check has debunked other false claims related to Spain's migrant crisis.
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