This is the moment chaotic scenes erupted in Ceuta on Monday after hundreds of migrants broke through a police cordon and rushed towards an emergency camp.

The dramatic scenes unfolded after 500 new accommodation places became available, reports regional newspaper Europa Sur.

Tensions boiled over outside the centre in the Loma Colmenar neighbourhood, where large numbers of people have been sleeping rough while waiting for a chance to secure shelter.

Reportedly, rumours that people were being admitted repeatedly triggered sudden stampedes towards the entrance, forcing the Policia Nacional to intervene.

At one point, hundreds reportedly broke through the police perimeter and ran down the hill towards the camp before being ordered back.

A social worker emerged from the facility with a megaphone and addressed the crowd in Arabic, persuading people to retreat.

Migrants then staged a sit-down protest, while some claimed they had been sprayed with pepper spray by private security guards. Others approached journalists asking for water.

The unrest followed a decision by Spain’s Migration Ministry to open another 500 places at Loma Colmenar, increasing its capacity from around 700 to 1,200 people.

News of the additional spaces quickly spread among migrants who had been sleeping outside the facility and at other makeshift camps across Ceuta.

Some have reportedly been sleeping on pavements and beside roads for days in an attempt to keep their place in the queue.

The prospect of finally securing accommodation led to repeated surges towards the entrance throughout Monday morning, with running, pushing and protests reported.

Riot police warned on several occasions that they could again fire warning shots into the air with public-order shotguns if the crowd breached the security perimeter, after warning shots had allegedly already been used earlier in the morning.

The situation has also caused growing concern among residents of Loma Colmenar.

‘My children are scared,’ one local resident told Spanish media. ‘Every morning they see very unpleasant scenes from the balcony. When it gets dark, we don’t go out as a precaution.’

The latest disorder comes as authorities race to provide accommodation for the thousands of migrants who remain in Ceuta following the unprecedented mass crossings from Morocco at the end of July.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday that around 5,000 migrants remain in the Spanish enclave, including approximately 1,200 minors.