Key facts
- Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles stated intelligence services warned of a migrant surge in Ceuta on July 30.
- Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska denied receiving any such warning.
- Robles later revised her timeline, suggesting the warning may have been verbal and occurred on July 29.
- The contradictory statements emerged during an emergency parliamentary hearing.
- Opposition parties accused the government of mishandling the crisis and attempting a cover-up.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez faced internal government conflict over the handling of a migrant crisis in Ceuta, with two of his top ministers offering contradictory accounts regarding intelligence warnings. Defense Minister Margarita Robles asserted that the National Intelligence Center had issued a warning on July 30, prior to the influx of approximately 72,000 migrants into the North African exclave. However, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska directly refuted this, stating that neither Spanish nor foreign intelligence services had detected or warned of any unusual activity near Ceuta.
During an emergency parliamentary hearing, Robles initially defended the intelligence services' actions but later revised her statement, suggesting the warning might have been verbal and occurred on July 29. Grande-Marlaska reiterated his stance that no report foreshadowed the event. This public disagreement between senior ministers has embarrassed Sánchez's government, which is already under pressure to explain how the crisis unfolded and to ensure the long-term security of Spain's exclaves. Opposition parties have seized on the divisions, accusing the executive of a cover-up and mishandling the situation. The People's Party criticized the ministers for accusing each other of lying, while the Vox party announced plans to request parliamentary prosecution of government members.