Ceuta crisis: Young Moroccan found under Real Valladolid's team bus trying to get into Spain

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FT Desk

A 17-year-old Moroccan was found attempting to make his way through Spain by hiding under the team bus of Real Valladolid.

On Sunday, the Segunda B side made the trip to face Ceuta and left following a 1-1 draw.

In July of 2026, tens of thousands of migrants attempted to enter Ceuta from Morocco by sea and through the land border. Spanish authorities deployed extra police and military personnel, while several people died attempting the crossing.

The crisis overwhelmed Ceuta's reception facilities, particularly those for unaccompanied minors. Spanish authorities and Morocco subsequently worked to prevent further crossings and return people who had entered irregularly. The UK House of Commons Library described the episode as involving over 70,000 crossings and said it raised concerns about the security of the EU's external border.

Despite the authorities moving as many people as possible back over the border, some remain and are either in official temporary housing or are attempting to evade a return to Morocco.

Real Valladolid took a ferry to reach Ceuta and then again to return to Spain and authorities found nothing out of the ordinary when checking the bus for the journey back.

Then, around Cadiz an hour into the journey, strange noises were heard from the undercarriage and, after stopping, club officials found a young man clinging to the axle of the bus.

The 17-year-old said he was from Tetouan and that he was trying to reach Algeciras, where he intended to seek accommodation at a juvenile centre.

Rea Valladolid’s medical staff gave him food and water and assessed him for any injuries but he only complained of pain in his back after holding onto the bus for so long.

Jorge Santiago, Valladolid’s vice-president, told The Athletic that the incident had left the players and travelling contingent “quite shocked”.

“First because we had never experienced anything like it before, and then because we realised that someone is putting their life at risk in order to get to another country,” Santiago said.

“No one warns you about this kind of situation but, unfortunately, it is already known that this is one of the ways people try to get from Morocco to mainland Spain, by hiding in trucks, buses … in any way possible, with the intention of being able to cross.”

All players in last midweek's round of La Liga fixtures were given the option of wearing a shirt which featured the slogan "Todos somos Caballas,” roughly meaning “We are all from Ceuta.”

Ahead of Real Madrid's game against Elche, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr wore the shirts onto the pitch but rolled them up so only part of the support message could be shown, while Ibrahima Konate did not wear the shirt at all and simply held it in his hand.

Mbappe later explained his actions, saying he felt solidarity with everyone suffering in Ceuta, including the migrants.