Selfie stick-toting swimmer falsely linked to Spain's migrant crisis
- Published on August 6, 2026 at 17:50
- Updated on August 6, 2026 at 17:53
- 3 min read
- By Vishesh SINGH, AFP India, AFP Canada
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 organizations 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 illegal migrant records himself with a selfie-stick as he swims to Ceuta and illegally crosses into Spain yesterday," says the caption on a Facebook reel posted July 31, 2026.
The video, which spread widely across social media in the United States and Canada, shows a young man swimming while holding what appears to be a selfie stick.
Arabic media organization Al Arabiya, India's NDTV 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, lies just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain and is often considered a launchpad for clandestine immigration to continental Europe.
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 -- sparking a diplomatic crisis between Spain and its European Union partners.
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 75 people.
By August 5, authorities in the north African territory said 70,000 of the migrants who entered had returned to Morocco, but the roughly 2,500 who remain include hundreds of unaccompanied minors who were enduring dire conditions.
The clip of the young man swimming also spread in other languages including Spanish, 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 here).
The individual has posted multiple swimming videos filmed at the same location (archived here and here).
In a video shared on August 2, the creator said he was in the port city of El Jadida, hundreds of kilometers from Ceuta on the eastern Moroccan coast (archived here).
"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 here).
AFP has previously debunked other false claims related to Spain's migrant crisis.
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