Spain Warns of New Migrant Invasion in Ceuta

The Spanish Civil Guard is investigating a potential mass migration event in the enclave of Ceuta scheduled for August 15. A preliminary assessment indicates a real risk of a new invasion driven by decentralized social media campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp that have reached approximately 500,000 people. While investigators consider the involvement of human trafficking rings plausible, they have found insufficient evidence to link the current calls for mobilization to the government of Morocco.

This warning follows a crisis on July 30 when over 50,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, resulting in up to 90 deaths from drowning and crushing. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez characterized the surge as a "violation of sovereignty" and blamed the Moroccan government for engineering the crisis. The event triggered a diplomatic rift with Italy, where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni temporarily closed air and sea borders with Spain and called for the suspension of Spanish citizens' free movement rights under the Schengen agreement.

The July event also sparked an internal political dispute in Spain. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska claimed he received no prior warnings about the surge, a claim the Spanish National Intelligence Centre denied, asserting that reports were sent to the minister. The crisis occurred after a June 29 Supreme Court of Spain ruling restricted the summary deportation of migrants intercepted at sea.