GETTY Authorities in Ceuta have blamed the EU for the migrant crisis

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Officials from a migrant centre in Ceuta, North Africa, which has been overwhelmed by the number of migrants arriving, have claimed “immigration is an EU problem, not a Spanish problem”. Ceuta has become a magnet for African migrants hoping to reach Spain as it has the EU’s only land border with Africa. Early on Monday morning, almost 200 migrants from Guinea arrived in the Spanish city of Ceuta where they have been staying in a temporary centre for immigrants.

Dramatic images as 500 migrants jump the border into Spanish enclave of Ceuta Mon, February 20, 2017 Around 500 sub-Saharan African migrants crossed the fenced border surrounding Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 19 African migrants react as they arrive at the CETI, the short-stay immigrant centre, after crossing the border from Morocco to Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta

It is a problem for the European Union because the autonomous cities are the way to enter the continent Ceuta immigration spokesman

Government delegate in Ceuta, Nicolás Fernández Cucurull, blamed a security failure in the surveillance of the border for the migrants managing to enter successfully. A spokesman from the immigration centre said: “It's not our problem and we're not going to solve it. “It is a problem for the European Union because the autonomous cities are the way to enter the continent.

“Often these people go to countries like France or Germany.” He said the EU does not pay attention to Ceuta because it is outside the Schengen area, which has abolished border control between EU nations. A source from the temporary migrant centre said: “Here we meet their most urgent needs for a maximum of three months, until the police authorise their transfer to the host NGOs.”

GETTY Ceuta is a Spanish city in North Africa

This week the Spanish police also arrested 19 North African migrants hiding in fairground lorries after a funfair in Ceuta. The comments come as Ceuta has decided to close its border crossing because of the sheer number of migrants arriving in the city in Morocco. The week-long agreement with the Moroccan authorities involves closing the border crossing ‘Tarajal’.