Does a video show a migrant eating a rat in Europe? No, that's not true: The video does show a person eating a rodent, but it was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2024. It does not show a migrant in Europe as claimed in social media posts during the 2026 migrant influx in Ceuta, Spain, an autonomous city on the north coast of Africa that borders Morocco.
The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) by the Turning Point UK account (@TPointUK) on X on Aug. 14, 2026. It opened:
A migrant has been caught eating a rat in Spain...
This follows footage of migrants eating swans, geese, koi carp and even household pets.
This is what a screenshot of the video in the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @TPointUK on X.)
The same video (archived here) was also posted two days earlier on Aug. 12, 2026, by activist Tommy Robinson (@TRobinsonNewEra) on X. It read:
Invader brings his culturally enriching cuisine habits to Europe.
This is what a screenshot of the video in the second post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @TRobinsonNewEra on X.)
The video of the man eating the rat is not from Ceuta in August 2026, but is instead from South Africa, more than two and a half years earlier. The original video (archived here) can be found on Newsflare, a global video marketplace and news community. Its description read:
Occurred on January 5, 2024 / Cape Town, South Africa
Info from Licensor: 'I was on my morning walk when I spotted a guy chewing on a dead rat. He was sitting on a bench on the promenade by Saunders Beach. A very popular spot for swimming, running, walking, having a picnic and not witnessing people eating deceased rodents.'
This is what the Newsflare listing looked like at the time of writing:
(Image source: newsflare.com.)
Another video (archived here), showing the same stretch of beach, was posted to Facebook by Cape Town Getaway on Jan. 20, 2026. It shows the same sidewalk, fence, and garbage cans. The video is captioned:
Saunders Rock
This is what a screenshot from the video in the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by Cape Town Getaway on Facebook.)
Saunders Beach and Saunders Rocks are two names for the same coastal spot, which is officially named Saunders' Rocks Beach (archived here).
