Ceuta: Spanish police say government failed to act on warnings
A new Reuters investigation published on August 15th reveals that the Ceuta migration surge in late July stemmed from Spain’s disregard for repeated, documented warnings from border officer unions, as reported by Yabiladi, a Moroccan-friendly outlet, on August 16th.
During the tragic events of July 30–31st, Ceuta saw 70,000 people enter the enclave after false reports that a Spanish Supreme Court ruling issued on June 29th said migrants could not be sent back if they swam or arrived by sea, resulting in roughly 100 deaths.
Reuters journalists have revealed that this court ruling was reframed in online posts, encouraging migrants to swim across to avoid triggering the language in the ruling, which applied only to those “crossing a physical barrier.”
The AUGC Civil Guard union warned in a statement that this ruling would create a “legal loophole,” according to Reuters.
Later videos showcasing successful entries and encouraging more attempts further reinforced this claim.
Speculation points to Morocco and Israel as being involved in attempted retaliation over recent political fallouts.
Relations between Spain and Morocco have recently become strained after Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Algiers for talks with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Similarly, relations with Israel have soured, as Spain remains one of Israel‘s most vocal critics of the Gaza genocide.
Despite online theories, no evidence shows a coordinated effort originating from either nation.
Internally, Sánchez faces an even bigger challenge, as Spain’s main opposition party, Partido Popular (PP), has accused Sánchez’s government of failing to act despite advance warnings. El País reported that PP spokesman Miguel Tellado said: “We can’t believe that the intelligence services in Spain didn’t know that a human tide that came to 60,000, 70,000 or 80,000 immigrants heading towards the coast of Ceuta was not warned.”
According to Reuters, the Civil Guard and police unions AUGC and SUP warned the central government well in advance, as the outlet found six statements and letters sent to the Ceuta government delegate and the head of local police.
On July 23rd, six days before the mass crossing, in a letter obtained by Reuters, the SUP to the Chief of Police in Ceuta warned officials that the “constant arrivals by sea” had “direct repercussions on staff which conventional police infrastructure is not conceived to handle”.
On July 13th, the union also posted their concerns on X, stating that “criminal gangs analyse every normative and legal change and adapt their routes and methods when they notice return procedures have become slower or more complex.”
Despite these warnings, the Interior Ministry failed to act, with the government delegate in Ceuta only proposing to meet the unions weeks later. He further states he was in regular contact with the police and the Civil Guard, denying any link between the uptick in arrivals before July 29th and the subsequent escalation.
Following the Ceuta crisis, the Spanish government contends that the disinformation campaign about the court ruling, supposedly run by smuggling networks, is at fault. While this partially explains the events of July 30-31st, it ultimately downplays the broader administrative and political failures involved.
Yabiladi, Reuters, El País, X, Maghrebi.org
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