Intelligence Reports Alerted Spain to Planned Mass Entries in Ceuta
Spanish intelligence and security reports declassified on Wednesday show that authorities had warned of possible mass migrant entries into Ceuta just before thousands crossed into Spain’s North African enclave from Morocco.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, announcing the declassification of 40 documents to parliament, said there was no information that conveyed the true magnitude of the crisis that unfolded on July 30 and 31. According to a document from CENIF, a border division of the National Police issued the day before more than 70,000 migrants arrived in the territory, authorities had detected internal communications among migrant groups organizing mass entries for the night of July 29. CENIF reported that nearly 1,000 people had swum in from Morocco between July 1 and 28, describing it as a drastic upward trend compared to the previous year and a consolidated, priority threat.
An urgent memo from the National Intelligence Centre issued on the afternoon of July 29 also warned of multiple calls circulating in Facebook groups urging people to attempt entries into Ceuta, including one group with more than 160,000 members.
In a message posted on X Wednesday, Sanchez said that based on the information available at the time, no one could have anticipated the scale of the migration crisis that unfolded on July 30 and 31, stressing that no competent body, in Spain or across the EU, had done so. He also said he had not received any document containing solid evidence that Morocco had planned or carried out the incident.
The government’s decision to declassify the documents comes amid growing questions over Rabat’s role in the events and whether Spanish authorities had received sufficient warning about the likelihood of mass entries. Sanchez has consistently maintained that his government did not receive any report that would have allowed it to foresee the scale of what was coming, nor anything providing solid evidence implicating Morocco directly.
Doubts about Morocco’s involvement grew last week following the leak of a police report describing what it characterized as permissiveness on the part of Moroccan security forces during the crisis. A separate declassified document issued by military intelligence at midday on July 30 states that it is highly likely Moroccan authorities were not actively encouraging the migration wave, but had acted in a negligent and passive manner up to that point.
The opposition has accused the government of failing to act despite receiving warnings about the unfolding situation, and has criticized officials for what it views as an effort to exonerate Morocco, which opposition figures believe played a central role in facilitating the mass entry. “The government knew everything that was happening… They had the information. They are directly responsible for the invasion of Ceuta,” said Ester Munoz, spokeswoman for the right-wing Popular Party in parliament.
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