What was claimed
A video shows a Moroccan migrant filming himself with a selfie stick while swimming into the Spanish territory of Ceuta off the coast of North Africa.
Our verdict
False. This video was actually taken in a harbour in El Jadida, Morocco, which is over 250 miles away from Ceuta.
A video clip of a man filming himself swimming using a selfie stick has been shared online with false claims it shows a “Moroccan migrant” entering the Spanish territory of Ceuta on the North African coast.
On 30 July, around 60,000 migrants entered Ceuta from Morocco, with many swimming and using inflatables. But the clip being shared online was actually filmed in a harbour in El Jadida, Morocco, which is 257 miles (413km) away from Ceuta.
The viral video has been variously captioned as “Moroccan migrant filmed himself with a selfie stick while swimming into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta” and “A Moroccan migrant documented his own dangerous journey, swimming across the border to Ceuta”.
We traced the clip to an Instagram post dated 29 July, the day before thousands of migrants entered Ceuta. The account regularly posts videos of the same man swimming in the same area. The 29 July post says the location is El Jadida city and we matched background features to a harbour in El Jadida, Morocco.
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The man behind the account posted again on 1 August to show he was in El Jadida and was also interviewed by a Moroccan outlet after the clip went viral. In the interview he said he didn’t emigrate to Spain and that his hobby is swimming in El Jadida.
We often see miscaptioned images and videos being shared widely on social media. Before reposting something you see, first consider whether it comes from a reliable and trustworthy source. Our toolkit can help you do this.
