Declassified files expose warning before Ceuta migrant surge
Spanish intelligence alerted Moroccan and Ceuta authorities to online calls for a mass crossing one day before tens of thousands entered the Spanish territory.
Spain’s National Intelligence Service warned Moroccan and Ceuta authorities on 29 July about social media calls for migrants to cross into Ceuta the following day, according to more than 40 government security documents declassified amid political pressure on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government.
The CNI said it had identified WhatsApp and Facebook groups promoting crossings by swimming and over the border fence. The groups reportedly reached about 180,000 people. The information was shared with Moroccan intelligence, Spain’s central government representative in Ceuta and the civil guard.
The mass crossing took place on 30 and 31 July. More than 72,000 migrants reportedly entered Ceuta, while the territory’s mayor said at least 100 people died. Most migrants later returned.
The documents have intensified a dispute over whether the government had enough information to anticipate the scale of the influx. Sánchez has said the mass arrival could not have been predicted, while government officials maintain the available intelligence did not allow authorities to prepare adequately.
Opposition parties say the disclosures contradict the government’s account and have alleged that Morocco may have facilitated the crossings. Sánchez has said there is no evidence of Moroccan complicity.
It also remains disputed whether the CNI messages amounted to a formal warning or an exchange of information. Ceuta’s central government delegate said the messages did not constitute an alert or report, while the released material establishes advance awareness of online calls but not that officials knew the eventual scale of the crossing.
