The men jumped into the water, waded or swam the final metres, and charged inland past stunned sunbathers.
Local officials did not hide their anger. Cartagena mayor Noelia Arroyo stated: "This cannot be normalised. We cannot accept that human trafficking mafias have such an easy time reaching our shores."
"If a migrant boat can reach a cove like this, disembark in full view of citizens and then leave, we have to ask ourselves how the control of our maritime borders is working," Arroyo further urged.
Former mayor Francisco Bernabe asked: "How is it possible that a boat of that size was not detected by the surveillance radar? Are they broken? Do they have them turned off? Or are they working and they simply ignore them?"
Authorities later reported 62 people aboard, including 45 adult men, two adult women and 15 minors, mostly of presumed Algerian nationality.
Police and Red Cross responded after the vessel had already turned and left.
The landings come weeks after more than 70,000 people poured into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco. While officials claimed the majority returned, thousands remained, and the spectacle of open landings on mainland tourist beaches has left many Spaniards convinced the message of impunity has spread.
In Ceuta itself the situation remains dire. Spanish police relocated hundreds of mostly young male migrants from El Trampolín beach to temporary facilities in industrial and military zones.
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