Spain has deployed troops to Ceuta to patrol the border with Morocco after thousands of migrants swam to the north African enclave.

As many as 6,000 migrants from Morocco, including 1,500 minors, swam into the Spanish enclave on Monday and Tuesday, according to the country's interior ministry. At least one person died in the crossing, according to a local government spokesman. 

Soldiers in armored vehicles rushed to the beach as hundreds of potential migrants stood on the Moroccan side of the fence. Red Cross workers also helped migrants lying on the floor injured.

Adult arrivals were transferred to a local soccer stadium to be deported back to Morocco. Spain's interior minister said at least 2,700 had already been sent back. Minors, estimated to be around 1,500 of the 6,000, were sent to an industrial building. 

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called it a serious crisis for Spain and Europe. 

"My priority as Spain's prime minister at this moment is to guarantee the control of transit through the border with Morocco, provide the cities of Ceuta and Melilla with everything they need to resolve the humanitarian crisis as a result of the arrival of people and to proceed with the immediate return, I repeat, immediate return, of everyone who has made an irregular entrance to Ceuta and Melilla as stipulated in the agreements Spain and Morocco have signed years ago."

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The arrival of the migrants comes at a time of heightened tension between Spain and Morocco over the fate of Western Sahara independence leader, Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front, who is being treated in a Spanish hospital. 

The Polisario Front wants the Western Sahara to be an independent state instead of part of Morocco. In December, the U.S. recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara territory. 

Ceuta has a population of 80,000 and is located on the northern tip of Morocco across from Gibraltar. Many migrants are attracted to Ceuta as part of their voyage to Europe in search of a better life. 

Adam, a 17-year-old Moroccan migrant who had arrived in Ceuta, told Reuters: "I am in Ceuta and I am here [to] survive and to help my family. All my friends are here [to] help their families and to find work and find justice because my country doesn't have any justice. Morocco is [a] big, bad country."

Walid, a 26-year-old migrant from Morocco also said: "We hope to have a good life for us and our parents and that we realize our dreams. And may God help us with this expatriation [living abroad]."

Jorge, a 58-year-old Ceuta resident, said to Reuters: "Sadness, powerlessness, unhappy about how the government has handled this in every way. Things should have been done better and sooner, to avoid all this." 

El Mustapha Ramid, a minister of state for human rights, said late on Tuesday that Rabat had a right to "lean back" over the hospitalization of Polisario leader Brahim Ghali. Spain's decision to hospitalize Ghali, on what Morocco says was a false Algerian passport, has angered Rabat.

Video editor: Pedro Duarte