Social media rumours, economic hardship fuel migrant surge into Ceuta

By Victoria Waldersee and Ahmed Eljechtimi

MADRID/CEUTA, July 31 (Reuters) – As 16-year-old Moroccan Ayoub El Abyad scrolled through Instagram videos showing migrants crossing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, he and his cousin, then still a 12-hour drive from the border, decided to try their luck.

“Migration is about improving our lives. We agreed we would try the idea of crossing and trust ​in Allah,” El Abyad told Reuters in Ceuta, after completing the journey by hitching rides with two drivers.

El Abyad was one ‌of roughly…