Spain's Spy Agency Issued Warnings Before Ceuta Migrant Influx, Declassified Files Show

Declassified government documents released Wednesday reveal that Spain's national intelligence agency (CNI) issued multiple warnings about a potential mass crossing of migrants into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta from Morocco in late July, before a major influx occurred. The revelations appear to contradict previous statements by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez regarding the extent of prior warning the government received.

The collection of 40 documents, which includes alerts, intelligence reports, and communications from various law enforcement and intelligence agencies, detailed intelligence activity ahead of the surge. On July 29, the day before over 72,000 people began pouring into Ceuta, the CNI sent a WhatsApp alert to the Spanish government's delegation in Ceuta. This alert referenced calls on social media "for an assault on the fence and by sea tomorrow at 8 p.m." The message added, "There are two different groups with a total of 180,000 followers," "just to give you an idea of its scale."

That same day, Spain's intelligence agency also informed Moroccan intelligence agencies of plans observed on social media for migrants to enter Ceuta on July 30. The plans reportedly involved climbing or swimming around the border fence separating the exclave from Morocco, potentially leveraging Morocco's national Throne Day, celebrated on July 30. Similar warnings about "several groups on Facebook and WhatsApp encouraging these attempts" were also dispatched to Spain's Civil Guard police force.

Prime Minister Sánchez, however, rejected the notion that the declassified documents indicated a warning of the scale of the crossing that took place between July 30 and 31. Speaking on Wednesday, he stated, "The existence of this campaign was known ... and was being monitored, but in no way did it constitute or could it be interpreted as an indicator of the scale, nature, or probability of what happened afterward." Sánchez's remarks on X referenced the CNI's July 29 social media alert.

The prime minister had previously defended his government's management of the crisis and, last week, asserted there was no evidence that Morocco's government orchestrated the incident. This assertion drew further criticism, particularly after a leaked police report alleged the involvement of Moroccan police in the episode. The surge of arrivals quickly overwhelmed authorities, though Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska had acknowledged hundreds of migrants reaching Ceuta in the days immediately preceding the mass crossing. At the time, he characterized the situation as "an extraordinary, exceptional situation" and affirmed the government was "dealing with it with the means that we already have deployed there permanently."

The border crisis prompted major protests in Spain, with critics attributing blame to the Sánchez government for its handling and political opponents accusing him of pandering to Morocco. Weeks after the initial influx, Ceuta faces a prolonged humanitarian crisis, with the national government reporting approximately 5,000 migrants remaining in the city. Local officials, however, cite a higher figure of up to 10,000 people. Last week, Sánchez also pledged to release documents related to Spain's deadliest mass crossing, where non-governmental organizations reported more than 140 migrant fatalities. Morocco's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the report.

Source: Originally reported by yahoo.com.