MADRID, September 11 — Spain’s government published forty declassified intelligence reports, alerts and communications covering July 1 to 31 on September 9, after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pledged to make them public. The documents show that Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI) warned Moroccan intelligence agencies and its own delegation in Ceuta a day before more than 70,000 people crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on July 30 and 31.
According to the released files, the CNI issued a note dated July 29 warning Morocco’s DGST and DGED intelligence agencies of plans circulating on social media for migrants to enter Ceuta by scaling the border fence or swimming around it, taking advantage of Morocco’s Throne Day celebrations on July 30.
What the Files Show
The same day, declassified WhatsApp messages show the CNI alerting the Spanish government’s representative in Ceuta to calls for an assault on the fence and by sea at 8 pm the following evening. “There are two different groups with a total of 180,000 followers,” the CNI wrote, “just to give an idea of the scale.” A CNI note issued at midday on July 30 stated it was highly likely that the Moroccan authorities were not actively encouraging the migratory wave but had acted in a negligent and passive manner.
An Interior Ministry report of the same day said Moroccan border police had been due to reinforce the border with 1,000 extra police and soldiers despite the public holiday.
Madrid’s Position
Sanchez rejected the suggestion that the documents show prior warning of a crisis of the scale that unfolded. “The existence of this campaign was known to other institutions and was being monitored, but in no way did it constitute or could it be interpreted as an indicator of the scale, nature, or probability of what happened afterward,” he wrote on X.
Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the documents showed there had been no warning of the scale of the July 30 surge, telling reporters he was not aware of any information of any kind pointing to the magnitude of the avalanche. Sanchez said last week that Spain had found no evidence the border rush was orchestrated by Moroccan authorities, contradicting allegations in a Spanish police report, and the Moroccan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
NGOs estimate that 140 people died in the surge. More than 10,000 migrants, including unaccompanied minors, remain in makeshift camps or on the enclave’s streets and beaches according to local authorities, while the Spanish government puts the figure at about 5,000, including 1,200 minors. Residents angry at the government’s handling of the crisis have protested almost daily since the crossing, and the released files have renewed questions about whether Madrid ignored warnings about the scale of the surge.
What to Watch
The declassification has placed the CNI’s July 29 warning and the government’s response under renewed scrutiny, with Sanchez’s public position and Albares’s remarks now set against the documentary record. Whether the published files prompt further parliamentary or judicial examination of the pre-surge intelligence chain remains the next point to watch.
