Spain’s interior minister has asked police to verify a report that a government agency blamed Moroccan security forces for July’s massive influx of migrants into the enclave of Ceuta, ministry sources said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Monday that Morocco bore no responsibility for the crisis, instead accusing Israel, Russia and far‑right groups of spreading disinformation about the arrival of roughly 70,000 migrants in Ceuta. Sánchez told Cadena SER radio that “no intelligence service with which the Spanish government normally cooperates” had suggested any involvement by the Moroccan authorities.
However, the online newspaper El Español reported that Spain’s National Centre for Immigration and Borders (CENIF) concluded the incident “was guided by Moroccan security forces…with an objective other than migration.”
Interior Minister Fernando Grande‑Marlaska has written to police chief Francisco Pardo requesting verification of the information, which CENIF reportedly forwarded to a judge compiling details of the incident, ministry sources said.
“Any such information should have been immediately made available to the National Security Council and to other bodies with authority in this field,” the minister added in his letter.
Over 70,000 migrants entered the tiny Spanish enclave on 30‑31 July, crossing by swimming or on foot from neighboring Morocco in an unprecedented rush that resulted in dozens of deaths.
Some analysts have posited that the crisis may have been a message from Morocco to Spain over the disputed Western Sahara, coming on the heels of Sánchez’s July visit to Algeria, a historic rival of Rabat.
The Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is largely controlled by Morocco but claimed by the Algerian‑backed Polisario Front, which fights for independence.
Political flashpoint
The influx reignited EU tensions over immigration—a highly sensitive issue—and dealt a blow to one of the Union’s cornerstone achievements, the Schengen free‑travel area.
Italy’s right‑wing government imposed month‑long border checks on travellers from Spain following the crisis, and Madrid responded a week later with similar measures.
Both governments announced a 15‑day extension of the controls on Monday.
While most of the migrants returned to Morocco within hours, thousands remain in the tiny 18‑km² territory of Ceuta, home to about 84,000 inhabitants, many of them living on the streets.
The situation has become a major political flashpoint, with the conservative and far‑right opposition calling for the return of all migrants who entered Ceuta, including minors, to Morocco.
Ceuta residents have staged regular demonstrations over what they describe as security and hygiene problems stemming from the influx.
Sánchez said that 6,000 reception‑center beds would soon be available in the territory for migrants, whose status must be verified by Spanish authorities before any possible return to Morocco.
He also pledged an extra €168 million in aid for Ceuta to address the crisis.
At the end of August, Madrid requested support from the European Commission, including Frontex, Europol and the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), to help screen and process migrants staying irregularly in Ceuta.
