Around 30 migrants have been intercepted after being found hiding inside fairground trucks and dismantled rides in an attempt to travel from Melilla to mainland Spain.
Spanish authorities launched a major overnight search as vehicles used for the city’s annual fair prepared to return to Andalucia on Monday.
Dubbed Operacion Feriante, it involved officers inspecting lorries, trailers and fairground attractions before they were allowed to board ferries bound for the mainland.
According to reports, around 30 people were discovered concealed, with Cadiz their intended destination.
The operation involved the Policia Nacional and Guardia Civil, with police dogs, drones and officers from the UPR rapid-response unit deployed.
But authorities were not only searching vehicles once they reached the port.
Police escort fairground workers to port
Policia Nacional officers also escorted the fairground operators along their journey from the fairground to Melilla’s maritime terminal.
The measure was intended to prevent other migrants from jumping onto or climbing inside the vehicles while they travelled through the city.
Police maintained a special operation around the fairground throughout the early hours, while Guardia Civil officers carried out detailed inspections at the port.
Fairground workers themselves also reportedly helped authorities.
In several cases, operators alerted police after discovering minors hiding inside their vehicles, while others removed people from hiding places themselves before continuing towards the port.
Security checks were due to continue until ‘the last truck’ had left Melilla.
Authorities said vehicles were being subjected to continuous checks from the moment they entered the port’s restricted security zone until they boarded ferries for mainland Spain.
Increased pressure this year
The operation comes amid what the report describes as an unusually high number of migrants gathering around Melilla’s fairground during the early hours.
Authorities were forced to reinforce this year’s operation amid fears that large numbers could attempt to use the departing fairground convoy to reach the peninsula.
Melilla, a Spanish autonomous city on the North African coast, is separated from mainland Spain by the Mediterranean and shares a land border with Morocco.
