Spanish authorities are searching for a person who used a paraglider to cross a border fence from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Melilla, in what appears to be the first known use of the method to enter European territory.
Footage obtained by local newspaper El Faro shows a person landing near the fence and then running off, leading officials to suspect the individual was attempting to reach Europe. Two citizens reported seeing the paraglider on Thursday afternoon, according to Eder Barandiaran, a press officer for Spain’s government delegation in Melilla.
The person’s identity and nationality remain unknown. Images of the paraglider circulated on social media on Thursday.
Melilla has been at the centre of a scandal after 23 people died in June during an attempt by hundreds of migrants and refugees to cross the border. Moroccan police used teargas and batons, even on individuals on the ground. Spanish authorities have been accused of unlawfully pushing some people back into Morocco, allegedly violating their right to seek asylum.
Of the more than 29,000 people who have crossed into Spain by land or sea without authorisation so far this year, 1,300 did so through Melilla, according to Spain’s interior ministry.
