Spanish secret service warned authorities of an onslaught on Ceuta

New documents published Spanish secret service warned authorities of an attack on Ceuta

The Spanish government has so far released secret documents on the migration crisis in Ceuta: According to this, the secret service CNI informed the day before the mass rush about a possible "attack across land and sea".

The Spanish secret service CNI warned the authorities in Ceuta of a possible "land and sea attack" on the North African exclave one day before the mass arrival of migrants at the end of July. This emerges from secret documents that have now been released by the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Madrid.

Accordingly, on July 29, the CNI informed both the government representation in Ceuta and the Guardia Civil police unit about calls on social networks to cross the border the following day. According to these warnings, two corresponding Facebook groups had a total of around 180,000 followers.

In another communication from the CNI there was talk of planned attempts to reach Ceuta by swimming and over the border fence. According to the documents that have now been released, the CNI also informed the Moroccan authorities.

On July 30 and 31, more than 72,000 people walked or swam from Morocco to Ceuta. Most returned or were returned shortly afterwards. However, thousands remain in the Spanish exclave. Dozens of people died in the stampede.

This is what Sánchez says about the new documents

The government released around 40 documents from the period between July 1st and August 1st. According to his own statements, Sánchez wants to prove that the government was not warned about such a dimension before the mass arrival. He explained that the call on social networks was known, but that it "was in no way an indicator of the extent, nature or likelihood of what happened afterwards and could not be interpreted as such." The CNI itself only informed about it “via message and a short phone call,” but did not send a “major warning,” for example to the Ministry of Defense.

The EU announced in the afternoon that it would provide Spain with around 115 million euros to deal with the migration crisis in Ceuta. The money will be used to strengthen border protection and border surveillance. It is also about the humane accommodation of unaccompanied minors and the return of people without a right of residence, as the EU Commission announced.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares called the announcement fantastic after talks with EU representatives in the evening. At the same time, he made it clear that from a Spanish perspective this could only be a first step.

After the storm on Ceuta, the Prime Minister's crisis management has been criticized. Spain is puzzling: Why is Pedro Sánchez defending Morocco?