Lisbon, Aug. 5, 2026 (Lusa Verifica) - Misinformation about the migration crisis in Ceuta continues, such as the false claims regarding the migrants found in a Portuguese lorry in the UK, who did not set off from the Algarve, and the video of 100,000 sub-Saharan ‘invaders' on their way to Morocco.
+++ Claims: «illegal immigrants arrive in the Algarve», «more than
+++ 100,000 sub-Saharan immigrants in Algeria on their way to Morocco»
+++ and «migrant with an Apple Watch» +++
The recent mass influx of migrants into the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, located in northern Morocco, continues to spark dozens of social media posts, some denouncing the alleged arrival of migrants in the Algarve.
On Tuesday 4 August, Chega MP Rita Matias shared a video on various social media platforms in which she claimed that «illegal migrants are arriving in the Algarve», to which she attached footage of an alleged recent incident showing four men jumping out of a lorry with a trailer belonging to a company called «Algarve Removals» and a tractor from Mota&Silva: https://archive.ph/YJi4o.
In her post, Rita Matias claims that the footage shows «the result of Luís Montenegro's inaction in this video, which has already been shared by a UK MP» and that «Portugal is becoming the laughingstock of Europe thanks to the irresponsibility of Pedro Sánchez in Spain and Luís Montenegro in Portugal.» Another narrative circulating in a «red alert» shared in recent hours on various social media platforms is that there are «more than 100,000 sub-Saharan migrants in Algeria on their way to Morocco», allegedly pushed forward by the Algerian army: https://archive.ph/epoJo, https://archive.ph/KhoUW and https://archive.ph/QvBv0. (examples).
On Sunday, 2 August, another Chega MP, Pedro Frazão, also asked on X (formerly Twitter) whether «an illegal Muslim migrant is so poor that they cross the border wearing an Apple Watch?», claiming that «this is nothing more than a massive invasion orchestrated as an attack on Europe!»: https://archive.ph/fZYWB.
+++ Facts: the lorry video was filmed in the UK, the images of the
+++ ‘100,000 migrants' are from Mali, and the migrant's watch is not an
+++ Apple Watch +++
As with previous pieces of disinformation already fact-checked by Lusa Verifica (https://archive.ph/tyBPr), simple reverse-image or video searches quickly revealed their factual context.
In the case of the video shared by Rita Matias, a search using a still frame in Google Lens, for example, revealed within seconds that the images were related to an incident recorded in the county of Essex, on the outskirts of London, not in the Algarve.
During the verification process, it was found that the MP had amended the text of the posts to read «illegal immigrants pass through the Algarve» instead of the initial version, which stated «arrive in the Algarve»: https://archive.ph/t7cnQ and https://archive.ph/zMnFb.
The MP's source appears to be a post with over 1.3 million views by former Conservative Robert Jenrick, currently an MP for the far-right Reform UK, who asks whether «these are the first migrants from Ceuta to reach the British coast» having emerged «from the back of a lorry coming from southern Portugal, which is said to have passed through Spain» and calls for their deportation: https://archive.ph/ZlBFU.
According to the British media, which reports that the incident took place near the town of Maldon, following a journey from Málaga in southern Spain to the UK, with just one stop in northern France (https://archive.ph/q1XYM, https://archive.ph/oPlur, https://archive.ph/bezQP and https://archive.ph/AP8M5), it is possible to geolocate the scene of the video to within a few hundred metres of the company's warehouse in Essex: https://archive.ph/oV149.
A review of the Algarve Removals website, which has branches in the Algarve, Málaga and England, also revealed at least two statements, one of which was published almost two hours before Rita Matias's posts, in which the management explained that it was «deeply disturbed and frustrated» by what had happened and was «cooperating with the police in their investigation»: https://archive.ph/jI05T.
According to this and another statement, as well as comments to the British media, the migrants are believed to have boarded the lorry not in Spain or the Algarve, but near Rouen, in France, where a subcontractor's lorry had stopped overnight.
«At this stage, we believe the individuals gained access to the trailer via the roof, where a large hole was cut whilst the lorry was parked overnight near Rouen, two hours south of Calais. This is a secure service station/truck stop that we always use» and where «the rear doors and side curtains remained sealed and locked with a security device at all times.» The company also said that the following day, the lorry only stopped at the destination warehouse in Essex, and no irregularities were detected during safety inspections conducted by French and British authorities in Calais.
As for the origin and identity of the four migrants, no information is yet available as the British authorities have not yet managed to apprehend them; however, the lorry driver, who was briefly detained, has since been released and cleared of any wrongdoing by the British authorities, the company states: https://archive.ph/ufkDC.
The claim regarding the alleged «100,000 sub-Saharan migrants in Algeria on their way to Morocco» is also unsupported by regional media and did not pass reverse-image searches, which revealed that the images are indeed recent but were filmed in northern Mali, in the Azawad region.
The video circulating on social media and elsewhere actually shows the flight of several thousand illegal miners, many of them Nigerian, attempting to return home following attacks by the Malian Armed Forces, supported by Russian mercenaries, against Tuareg separatist rebel groups and jihadist factions operating in the region.
This account can be corroborated on the social media accounts of the mercenaries themselves or in Russian propaganda (https://archive.ph/4J891, https://archive.ph/B6gSE, https://archive.ph/yw4YA and https://archive.ph/iNt7d) and on regional pages and by analysts in the OSINT (open-source intelligence) community: https://archive.ph/ZnjFm, https://archive.ph/xA8iq and https://archive.ph/0IksJ (examples).
As for the migrant with the alleged Apple Watch, one need only recognise the brand or compare the photo (https://archive.ph/QAN1Q) with the various models of the watch to realise that it is not what is claimed: the watch in the photo has the side button in the centre of the case, whilst all Apple Watch series – which currently start at €279 – have the side button off-centre at the top: https://archive.ph/gISfn.
+++ Contradictory +++
Lusa Verifica asked Chega's press office whether MP Rita Matias had any confirmed information regarding the alleged link between the migrants in the video and illegal entry into Ceuta or the Algarve, but received no response.
For his part, regarding the photo of the migrant wearing a ‘smartwatch', MP Pedro Frazão explained that he based his assessment «on the visual identification of the device from the images, in which the watch has a shape, a strap and details consistent with an Apple Watch».
The MP, who is also vice-president of Chega, further stated that, «naturally, without examining the device up close, it is not possible to confirm the make or model with absolute certainty» and that he will correct the post if he is mistaken.
«Should it turn out to be a smartwatch from another brand, I will make that clarification. The essential point of the post remains: the images raise legitimate doubts about the narrative of extreme poverty that has been presented to the public,» he said in a written response to Lusa Verifica.
+++ Lusa Verifica Assessment: False +++
Social media continues to be flooded with false narratives and old or out-of-context photos and videos regarding the recent wave of migration in the Spanish autonomous territories of Ceuta and Melilla, which border Morocco, and which saw more than 60,000 migrants enter irregularly within a few hours.
In these three cases, the narratives surrounding a video of an incident involving migrants seen getting out of a Portuguese lorry in Essex, UK, the «alert» about an alleged column of 100,000 migrants reportedly crossing Algeria to reach Morocco, and the claim that a female migrant arrived in Ceuta wearing an Apple Watch are all false.
LYGA/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
