Spain’s intelligence services had warned of possible mass crossings by migrants and asylum seekers into Ceuta just before tens of thousands of people arrived in the Spanish enclave in late July, according to declassified documents. The trove of 40 documents was released on Wednesday amid near-daily protests in Ceuta over the Spanish government’s handling of the crisis, as well as questions over neighbouring Morocco’s role in the events. The documents show that on July 29 – a day before more than 72,000 people began pouring into Ceuta from Morocco – Spain’s National Intelligence Center (CNI) sent an alert via WhatsApp to the Spanish government’s delegation in the city about calls on social media “for an assault on the fence and by sea tomorrow at 8 pm”.
On the same day, CNI also warned Moroccan intelligence agencies DGST and DGED of plans for migrants to enter Ceuta by climbing the border fence or swimming around it. The agency mentioned that the plans could take advantage of Morocco’s national Throne Day, celebrated on July 30. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday rejected the idea that the declassified documents revealed there was prior warning of a border crisis on the scale of what took place between July 30 and 31.
There was no immediate comment from Morocco. Sanchez had previously said there was no evidence of Morocco’s involvement in the crisis, despite a leaked police report in July that alleged “total permissiveness” from Moroccan police during the border rush. A declassified document issued by CNI at midday on July 30 states that it is “highly likely that the Moroccan authorities are not actively encouraging the migratory wave, but have so far acted in a negligent and passive manner”.
It said that, “at the operational level, no proactive response from Moroccan authorities was observed regarding the loss of control over the situation, beyond the deployment of a few riot control units”. In the same note, it said many people on the night of July 29 were already “waiting to jump into the water to reach Ceuta”. About 5,000 migrants and asylum seekers, including 1,200 minors, still remain in Ceuta, more than a month after the mass crossing, according to the Spanish government.
Local officials cite a higher figure of up to 10,000 people. The population of Cuba is about 84,000 people. Madrid has pledged $357m in aid as some remain unhoused in the small city.
The opposition, meanwhile, has accused the government of failing to act despite having been alerted. They are directly responsible for the invasion of Ceuta,” Ester Munoz, spokeswoman for the right-wing Popular Party in parliament, told reporters.
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