Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told parliament on Thursday that Spain has found no solid evidence Morocco orchestrated or carried out July's mass migrant crossing into Ceuta, the Spanish enclave on Morocco's coast. The statement came days after a police report emerged alleging the entry was a planned operation designed to overwhelm border controls, not a spontaneous migration event. "No institution — not the diplomatic service, nor the European Commission, nor any international body — has provided the Spanish government with any solid proof that Morocco planned or carried out the incident," Sanchez said.
The police report, which Reuters reviewed, alleged that Moroccan security forces were deployed in smaller numbers than usual near the Tarajal breakwater during the July 30 crossings and did not attempt seriously to disperse crowds. Some uniformed Moroccan officers gave directions towards the crossing point, and unidentified people appeared to guide or monitor the flow, the report said. The document did not identify individual officers or provide independently verified evidence of orders from Moroccan authorities.
Sanchez acknowledged that Morocco's Gendarmerie police allowed crossings during a key 10-hour period on July 30 when migrant arrivals peaked. Spanish authorities had not yet determined whether this was due to inaction or inability to contain the influx, he said. Moroccan officials have denied enabling the crossing.
Sanchez told parliament that the government has urged King Felipe VI to visit Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's two North African enclaves, "in the coming weeks." The last visit by a Spanish monarch to the cities in 2007 sparked a crisis with Morocco, which claims both territories. A royal visit would signal state support for Ceuta, which has been in crisis since the July crossing, Sanchez said.
