Spain's spy agency warned of migrant storming plans before Ceuta crossing

Key facts

• Spanish intelligence warned of plans for migrants to storm Ceuta a day before a mass crossing.
• The warnings were communicated to Moroccan intelligence agencies and the Spanish government.
• Social media platforms were identified as planning the storming of the border fence or swimming around it.
• The CNI referenced two social media groups with a combined 180,000 followers.
• The Spanish government released 40 intelligence reports concerning the migration crisis.
• Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stated he was unaware of the surge's magnitude.

Spanish intelligence services had warned both their Moroccan counterparts and the Spanish government of plans to storm Ceuta a day before more than 70,000 migrants crossed into the North African enclave. Documents released by the Spanish government on Wednesday show that the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) issued a note on July 29 to Moroccan intelligence agencies DGST and DGED, alerting them to social media plans for migrants to scale the border fence or swim around it.

On the same day, the CNI also informed the Spanish government's representative in Ceuta of these plans, according to declassified WhatsApp messages. The CNI noted the existence of two social media groups with a total of 180,000 followers, indicating the potential scale of the operation.

Despite these warnings, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stated that he was not aware of any information pointing to the magnitude of the surge. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez recently stated that Spain found no evidence to conclude that the crossing was orchestrated by Moroccan authorities, though an Interior Ministry report noted passivity among Moroccan border police on the day of the event.

The Spanish government published 40 intelligence reports, alerts, and communications related to the Ceuta migration crisis from July 1-31. These documents indicate that the situation had been developing in the week prior, with Spain's defence ministry noting around 1,700 migrants arriving by sea from Morocco since July 25 and expecting further intrusions.