Play the ball not the man

A Red Cross emergency team treated more than 130 people for injuries, the NGO said in a statement. The ten Guardia Civil officers were hospitalised after having been sprayed with “some type of acid, lime or white liquid” and received treatment for burns, respiratory and cognitive issues, but were later discharged. Two of the migrants required surgery for "deep cuts", while others were discharged after treatment for cuts and fractures.

The 602 migrants who ultimately made their way onto Spanish soil have been taken into Ceuta’s temporary migrant reception centre, a facility already overflowing with 650 current residents for its 520 places.

It is not the first such incursion across the borders of Ceuta and Melilla, the two Spanish outposts in North Africa which are seen by many fleeing poverty and conflict as their best hope of reaching a new life in Europe.

But it is the first entry of such a magnitude into Ceuta since February 2017, when 850 migrants crossed into the territory in four days. Security forces speaking to Europapress said the level of violence employed in the assault was “unprecedented”.

It also comes as the Spanish system struggles to cope with surging numbers of arrivals. The country is now the largest gateway for migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe, with 19,586 people landing on its shores so far this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

I don't think that word means what you think it means.