Instead, a border crisis on its southern flank has created turmoil and division among its 27 members, raising questions over how prepared the bloc is for a dust-up with one of the world’s economic superpowers. The crisis was sparked on July 30, when an estimated 72,000 mainly Moroccan migrants surged into Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa, after Moroccan border controls appeared to collapse. At least 75 people died, mostly at sea, with the Spanish authorities estimating more than 100 died. The surge raised suspicions that the Moroccan authorities had weaponised migrant flows in response to Spanish efforts to improve ties with its neighbour and rival Algeria. In the immediate aftermath, however, many EU members placed the blame squarely on Madrid , whose openness to welcoming migrants is an outlier in a Europe that is becoming increasingly hawkish on the issue.