Pedro Sánchez told Parliament that he had summoned Morocco’s ambassador to protest statements about Ceuta and Melilla. Spain’s Foreign Ministry later acknowledged that Karima Benyaich was absent and that another diplomat had attended the meeting.
One month after the mass crossings from Morocco, Ceuta’s property market is still holding up. But some sales have been suspended, and buyers are considering forfeiting up to 30,000 euros already paid rather than signing the final agreement.
A Moroccan man in his thirties was fatally stabbed on Thursday morning inside a relative’s home in Ceuta. A woman has been arrested, but police are still working to establish the exact circumstances of the dispute.
Pedro Sánchez now acknowledges that Moroccan forces allowed migrants to enter Ceuta for ten hours on 30 July. However, the Spanish prime minister still refuses to accuse Rabat of organizing the mass arrival of more than 70,000 people.
Spain has just modified the exceptional measures put in place in Ceuta following the mass crossings from Morocco. A new decree maintains the possibility of mobilizing the army’s surveillance, transport and communications resources, but changes several facilities that may be used.
Plainclothes men allegedly directed Moroccan police officers on the ground during the 72,000 crossings into Sebta at the end of July. This is one of the most explosive conclusions of a report by the Spanish National Police now submitted to the courts.
Italy checked more than 180,000 travelers arriving from Spain in August after the Ceuta crisis. In the end, only 31 people were turned away at the Italian border, including eight Moroccan nationals. Rome has nevertheless just extended its checks.
Morocco is reportedly rapidly strengthening its air defenses in the north of the country. Radars, artillery and anti-aircraft systems are said to be deployed to form a “bubble” whose coverage could, according to a Spanish military source, reach southern Spain.
Spanish services had detected up to 2,000 people planning to cross and mobilization on social media. Yet 72,000 people ultimately reached Ceuta, driven by viral videos showing a border that had become almost impossible to control.
A former head of Spanish military intelligence claims that his country could neutralize Morocco within 24 hours if Rabat attacked Ceuta. Aircraft, ships, ports, airports and communications would be targeted in a retaliation that would go far beyond defending the enclave.
Around fifty Moroccans assisted over three months in Florianópolis were transformed into an “invasion” of Brazil. Launched by an Argentine website and amplified by accounts close to the right, the falsehood generated 13,400 mentions and recycled images from Ceuta.
Algerians now account for 42% of irregular arrivals recorded on the Western Mediterranean route to Spain, compared with 22% for Moroccans. This reversal has been confirmed by the International Organization for Migration.