A scene that tends to become usual unfolded on a beach on Spain’s Costa Cálida when a boat carrying around 60 illegal immigrants reached the shore, next to the well-known La Manga Club resort, disrupting the day of beachgoers.

People on the beach watched in astonishment as the boat approached the shore and those on board jumped into the sea and swam the final few meters to the beach like marines attacking a beachfront during an invasion. The men on the boat could be heard cheering as they reached land, while some of the beachgoers began gathering their belongings and moving away from the water.

The incident took place at Cala del Barco, a small cove with golden sand located directly next to La Manga Club. The resort is a popular destination for sports teams, including for winter training.

According to the report, the boat had around 60 illegal immigrant on board, all of which were military age young men. After the passengers jumped into the sea and reached the shore, they ran toward the beach and then disappeared from the area. The boat turned around and headed back in the direction from which it had come.

The arrival of the boat prompted strong reactions in Spain, with politicians raising questions about how maritime border surveillance operates.

Francisco Bernabé, former mayor of La Unión, an area near the beach, commented on the incident on social media, referring to the arrival of dozens of illegal migrants at the La Manga Club cove.

He questioned how a boat of this size could have gone undetected by the radar surveillance system. He successively asked whether the radars were out of operation, had been switched off, or were functioning but not being used, describing the situation as “extremely serious.”

Noelia Arroyo, mayor of Cartagena, which has administrative jurisdiction over Cala del Barco, took a similar position.

“This cannot be normalized,” she said, arguing that it cannot be accepted that “people-smuggling mafias” can reach the Spanish coast so easily.

She particularly focused on the fact that the boat was able to approach a small cove, disembark people in full view of members of the public, and then leave the area. “If a boat carrying migrants can reach such a cove, disembark people in plain sight and then leave, we have to ask ourselves how our maritime border controls are working,” she said.

By the morning after the incident, Spanish authorities had not provided information on the exact number of illegal immigrants who made the journey, nor was it clear how many of them had been located.

According to information from foreign media outlets, the passengers were mainly men from North Africa, who were estimated to be in their late teens or in their 20s.

Police were mobilized following several emergency calls from tourists and residents who were on the beach. However, when officers arrived at the scene, the illegal immigrants had already moved away from the boat.