Migrants storm Spanish enclave for second day running

Melilla and Ceuta, Spain's other tiny North African enclave, have the European Union's only land borders with Africa, making them a magnet for migrants desperate to escape grinding poverty and hunger.

"At around 7:25 am, after overcoming the Moroccan security forces, they began to jump the fence... throwing stones and using hooks and sticks against the security forces," a spokesman for the Spanish government's local delegation said.

The incident occurred a day after an unprecedented 2,500 migrants made a mass run at the Melilla border. Almost 500 managed to cross, in what the Spanish government's local delegation said was "the biggest entry attempt on record".

Officials said both events were characterised by more violence than previous attempts and quickly moved to call in security reinforcements to deploy along the border.

Twenty-three officers were lightly injured on Thursday with cuts and bruises while 32 migrants were treated in hospital, the central government's delegation in Melilla said.

During Wednesday's border rush, the delegation said some migrants had bolts screwed into their shoes to help them cross, which "being sharp, carries a huge risk" for the police and security forces.

That incident left 27 police and 20 migrants lightly injured, the delegation said, while on the other side of the border, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) said some 30 migrants had been hurt, three or four seriously.