Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez Denies Moroccan Involvement in Ceuta Migrant Surge

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Thursday denied Morocco’s involvement in the flood of tens of thousands of migrants into Ceuta — despite an explosive police report indicating Rabat helped orchestrate the surge.

During an extraordinary session of the Spanish parliament called to address the crisis, Sánchez dismissed the report’s allegations that Moroccan security officers guided groups of migrants toward the border with Ceuta.

“I can assure you that no government institution, nor the diplomatic service, nor the European Commission, nor any international organization has provided the Spanish government with solid evidence that Morocco planned or carried out the incident,” Sánchez said.

“No one can deny that this government is not afraid to confront other foreign powers when the situation has required it,” the prime minister added, alluding to his frequent clashes with U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “If solid evidence existed, we would act accordingly.”

Sánchez is facing mounting political pressure over the Ceuta crisis. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Spain on Wednesday to protest the government’s handling of the situation, and even members of Sánchez’s coalition government are challenging the prime minister’s narrative.

Ignoring jeers of protest from opposition lawmakers, Sánchez insisted that Spain must “continue cooperating with Morocco” and maintain “a good neighborly relationship” in order to deport the unauthorized migrants that remain in Ceuta and prevent future surges.

Prior to entering the parliament Thursday, Youth Minister Sira Rego, a member of the left-wing Sumar group, the junior partner in the government, said it was “hard to imagine that 80,000 people could have been moved to the border without Moroccan authorities knowing about it.”

She also questioned Sánchez’s long-term “policy of appeasement with Morocco,” adding the strategy had not been beneficial for Spain.

Sovereignty defense

While defending neighborly relations with Rabat, Sánchez took an unusual swipe at Morocco and for the first time publicly condemned the country’s “unacceptable” statements challenging Spain’s sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla.

Even though the North African territories have been governed by Madrid for hundreds of years, Rabat has for decades demanded their integration into Morocco.

But in recent weeks key government figures like Moroccan Minister of Justice Abdellatif Ouahbi and Islamic Affairs Minister Ahmed Toufiq have reasserted those claims by emphasizing Rabat’s “historical and geographical right” to rule the cities and its “sacred struggle to liberate the occupied cities.”

“Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish, and they will remain so until the end of time,” Sánchez said, adding that Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares had summoned Ambassador Karima Benyaich to formally condemn the Moroccan ministers’ statements.

Although he admitted his government’s handling of the crisis was “insufficient,” Sánchez insisted authorities had no way of anticipating the influx of tens of thousands of unauthorized people on July 30.

“It is absurd to think that the government was warned and deliberately did nothing,” the prime minister said, stressing that none of the police reports issued ahead of the surge “foresaw either the scale or the likelihood of what ultimately occurred.”

Sánchez added that Madrid would not back away from its progressive migration policies, which he said were needed to ensure the country’s economic future amid declining birth rates, “no matter how unpopular they are within an increasingly ultraconservative Europe.”