Ceuta Crisis: After Suspicions Against Morocco, Spanish Report Finds No Evidence

The information appears in a note published on September 10 by the European Parliament Research Service. The document reviews the mass crossings of July 30 and 31 and the suspicions successively directed at Morocco.

According to the daily newspaper El Español, surveillance footage had led some investigators to suspect the presence of Moroccan agents in civilian clothing among the groups gathered at the border. A report by the Spanish National Centre for Immigration and Borders, which comes under the National Police, subsequently attributed an active role to members of the Moroccan forces.

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The Guardia Civil conducted a separate analysis. Its six-page report focused in particular on the preparation of a new attempted crossing announced for August 15 and compared information published by the Spanish and Moroccan media. Investigators also studied Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram groups comprising approximately 400,000 members.

No Organizer Identified on Social Media

Based on the information available from open sources, the Guardia Civil states that it was unable to identify those responsible for the campaign. It also says it found no evidence linking this mobilization to the Moroccan government, the kingdom’s security services or any identified smuggling network.

This conclusion does not mean that all accusations targeting Moroccan agents have been dismissed. The Guardia Civil report mainly examined the digital campaign and the threat of a new crossing, whereas the National Police report focused more on the events observed on the ground on July 30 and 31. The two documents therefore have neither the same subject nor the same conclusions.

The Spanish justice system is, moreover, continuing its investigations. Judge María Tardón has opened an investigation into a possible “hybrid warfare” scenario to determine whether the crossings were coordinated, identify their organizers and establish any responsibility.

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Pedro Sánchez’s government, for its part, maintains that, at this stage, no evidence makes it possible to attribute the operation to Rabat. The report cited by the European Parliament supports this cautious position regarding the mobilization on social media, without resolving the suspicions concerning the conduct of certain Moroccan agents at the border.