Ceuta in serious condition, thousands of people remain there after the influx at the border

Hundreds of migrants set up camp on a beach in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa on Monday as local authorities struggle to cope with thousands of people still stranded in the small territory after a massive wave of border crossings last week. 

Spain estimates that around 69.500 migrants have returned to Morocco over the past four days, exceeding the initial estimate of around 50.000 people who had arrived in Ceuta on Thursday.

The official death toll on the Spanish side of the border has reached 72 dead, while 11 deaths have been recorded on the Moroccan side. 

Many migrants have said they decided to leave after shop closures left them without food, faced hostility from locals and were unable to travel to mainland Spain. 

Ceuta and another Spanish enclave in North Africa, Melilla, are located on Morocco's Mediterranean coast and face occasional attempts by migrants to enter Europe. 

Ceuta's head, Juan Jesus Vivas, told Telecinco television that between 3.000 and 5.000 migrants were still in the enclave, adding that the two reception centers for migrants, one for adults and the other for minors, were "overcrowded."