The Spanish Ministry of the Interior announced on Friday, 9 Mordad, that the estimates of the ministry show that around 49,000 migrants entered Ceuta—an area under Spanish control in North Africa—over the past 24 hours via sea and land.

The spokesperson for Spain’s Ministry of the Interior said the number of people who died on Thursday while attempting to enter Ceuta from the route through Morocco has increased to 18.

Ceuta, together with Melilla, another Spanish autonomous region in northern Morocco, forms the EU’s only land border with Africa. These two regions are periodically faced with waves of attempts by migrants to enter Europe.

In a ruling issued earlier this month, Spain’s Supreme Court said migrants who are stopped at sea while trying to reach Ceuta or Melilla should not be returned to Morocco without going through a legal process.

Ceuta is located on the northern coast of Morocco, across the Strait of Gibraltar from mainland Spain. For years, the region has been one of the main routes used by migrants who try to reach Europe.