Ceuta and Melilla are considered migration hotspots on the EU's southern borders, and the topic is one of the main bones of contention between Spain and Morocco.

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Eighteen Africans seeking to cross into Spain were killed and scores of migrants and police were injured in what Moroccan authorities called a “stampede” of people ...

Abdellah Bendhiba, the governor of Morocco's Nador province, told MAP: the men "displayed exceptional violence, ... Ceuta, about 300 miles west of Melilla along Morocco's northern coast.

Thirteen of the injured migrants later died in the hospital, raising the death toll to 18, according to Morocco’s official news agency MAP., which cited local authorities.