Gonzalo Sanz, who was chief of staff of the Government Delegation in Ceuta during the massive entry on July 30 and 31, stated this Thursday in the National Court that the situation was already extraordinary during the days before the crisis; and that they gave notice to the Ministry of the Interior, but that the response they received was not what the Delegation expected, according to sources close to the case. Sanz, who has appeared before Judge María Tardón, has also defended that he notified the then Government delegate, Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano, of the WhatsApp messages he received from an agent of the National Intelligence Center (CNI) about the existence of calls on social networks with 180,000 participants to enter the autonomous locality, coinciding with the Moroccan Throne Festival; and that, in addition, there are 19 other messages that have not been declassified.
The interrogation of the former chief of staff as a witness began around 11:45 and lasted for almost two hours. At this time, according to these sources, Sanz has detailed that Triano was able to say that he had not informed him about the CNI messages because he did not remember them and, in turn, he has largely supported the actions of the resigned socialist official. The former chief of staff has pointed out that information was sent to several ministries at the end of July. And, among other issues, he specified that he could not contact the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who was focused on the large fires that devastated Madrid and Ávila; but they did speak with the Secretary of State for Security, dependent on that department, to communicate their concern and the magnitude of the crisis. However, as he said, the response they obtained was not what they expected and they were urged to wait.
After testifying before Tardón, Sanz remained in court for about another hour to deliver to the magistrate various communications (messages and WhatsApp) stored on his mobile phone. “Everything went well,” Sanz briefly commented to the press upon leaving the Court, before hurrying away in a waiting car. Before, before the judge, he had added that he did not receive political pressure from his superiors.
At the same time, the former chief of staff – who had been in the position since June 2022, with the previous three Government delegates – has recounted how a report was prepared on July 24, which already contained information on a very alarming number of swimming entries and warned that there was a highly probable scenario of mass entry. According to sources close to the case, Sanz has also explained that it was not easy to put forward a statement that was published on July 27, where the city government and the Delegation stated that the situation was very serious and that the matter had been raised to "the highest institutions." Along these lines, Sanz has stated that things had to be corrected because La Moncloa had terms that did not convince him and he has indicated that he was aware that many ministries did not like that statement, according to the information that Triano told them.
The witness has stressed that there were moments in which the relationship with the city was even strained because Madrid did not respond to his requests, but he has defended that the delegate never stopped being interested in effective measures, such as legislative changes, police reinforcements, reinforcements in the CETI (Center for Temporary Stay of Immigrants) or the creation of a place to carry out triage. According to his story before the judge, Pérez Triano spoke on different occasions with the Secretary of State for Security, Aina Calvo, without the measures they were waiting for being taken, since they were told that they needed more time. According to Sanz's version, he only had one conversation with a minister and it was with Margarita Robles, in charge of Defense, the day after resigning, who called him in a personal capacity.
Sanz left his position after his superior stated that he had not communicated those messages from the CNI to him. The chief of staff decided to take the step given the existence of these “incompatible” versions, although in a statement he also supported the work of the Government Delegation in Ceuta. “I know that the Government Delegation has worked hard to achieve actions by the central government from the first minute, knowing that there are reports that demonstrate the warning and alert work that was carried out by the Government Delegation towards the different ministries and with the hope that our Ceuta will recover the normality that we so need as soon as possible,” he stated in his letter.
The judge, who took over the investigation into the irregular entry at the beginning of September, this week launched the first round of interrogations in the investigations. Although she is waiting to receive a large battery of reports requested from around twenty police and military units, the magistrate did not want to wait to begin taking statements. In fact, this Thursday and before Gonzalo Sanz sat before her, another witness appeared by videoconference: Sebastián Vega, who held the position of chief of the Ceuta Local Police at the end of July. In statements to the press, Vega already described the incidents as an “attack on the territorial integrity of Spain” and pointed out against Morocco: “In Morocco, no one moves their mustache without the information structure that exists around the power exercised by the King knowing it,” he said.
This Thursday, according to sources close to the case, Vega has repeated that they noticed an unusual increase in irregular entries after the Supreme Court's ruling at the beginning of July on the limits on hot returns at the border. The Chief of Police has stressed that they did not have any sign that an entry of the level that it reached could occur, according to these sources.
Furthermore, both (Sanz and Vega) have succeeded Juan Jesús Vivas, president of Ceuta, who gave a statement before the judge this Wednesday. During his statement, the PP leader explained that, during the days prior to the arrival of 80,000 people, he tried to warn the Presidency and the Ministries of the Interior, Territorial Policy and Foreign Affairs of the dimension of the crisis. But he added to Tardón that the central government was not aware of that magnitude. In fact, Vivas assured that he tried without success to speak with the President of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, and that he tried to communicate with him a dozen times, but did not get beyond the chief of staff. Sources from La Moncloa have denied this point: they repeat that they have “zero evidence of 10 calls” and that “he only” requested to speak “once” with Sánchez (on July 30) “and he went to him that same day.”
Upon taking up the case, Tardón targeted Morocco and saw evidence of the commission of “coordinated and intentional criminal conduct” “allegedly committed abroad,” “which has seriously attacked the territorial integrity of Spain.” However, the judge announced that she will investigate "all the actions that take place in Spanish territory", including whether the "articulation of adequate means of response" and the management of the "alerts" influenced the effects of the massive entry at the end of July.
Along these lines, part of the focus has been placed on the exchange of messages between a CNI agent and Sanz on July 29, one day before the irregular access — known through the declassification of documents promoted by the Government. In a WhatsApp, the intelligence official noted: "On social networks there is a call to assault the fence and sea tomorrow at 8 p.m. Taking advantage of the throne party and that its Security Forces and Corps will be involved. There are two different groups with a total of 180,000 followers. So you can get an idea of the scope of the dissemination." At 9:34 p.m. there was an 11-minute call between both interlocutors.
