Morocco Criticises Spanish Police Report Over Ceuta Migrant Rush
Moroccan media outlets have sharply criticized a Spanish police report accusing Morocco’s security forces of supervisory failures during the July 2026 migrant influx into the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta. According to Agence France-Presse and Le Monde, the report claims Moroccan forces displayed total permissiveness as more than 70,000 migrants crossed the border, triggering sharp diplomatic friction between Madrid and Rabat.
Anatomy of a Leaked Border Security Assessment
The controversy stems from an investigative document produced by the Spanish police’s National Center for Immigration and Borders, commonly known as CENIF. According to the CENIF findings, Moroccan police made no serious attempts to disperse or redirect the massive crowds assembling near the border perimeter on July 30 and July 31, 2026. Satellite imagery cited in the report allegedly showed zero police or military deployment along the beaches and breakwaters where the crossings occurred.
Furthermore, statements collected from a large sample of migrants by CENIF investigators indicated that local officers maintained a passive stance. Some migrants even claimed that personnel offered verbal instructions on how to enter the territory via water. The document also pointed to non-uniformed individuals acting as coordinators, directing crowds toward the maritime access points.
The publication of these findings by the right-leaning online newspaper El Español immediately ignited political turbulence. The Spanish Interior Ministry scrambled to issue a series of clarifying statements denying that any official police assessment assigned direct blame to the Moroccan government. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez formally ruled out Moroccan responsibility, emphasizing the vital diplomatic partnership between Madrid and Rabat in managing bilateral migration flows.
Clashing Narratives and Diplomatic Fallout
While Spanish opposition politicians seized upon the report to criticize Prime Minister Sánchez’s border management, Moroccan authorities fiercely rejected the allegations. A Moroccan source close to the case told Agence France-Presse that claims of operational relaxation at the land border were entirely false.
The Moroccan Interior Ministry attributed the sudden, massive surge to the malicious exploitation of social media and the widespread dissemination of misleading information online. Officials in Rabat stressed that their security apparatus faces immense migratory pressure driven by desperate youth.
Ceuta and Melilla remain unique geopolitical flashpoints as the European Union’s only land boundaries with the African continent. Morocco historically claims sovereignty over both territories. Political analysts suggest that shifting diplomatic alignments—such as Prime Minister Sánchez’s recent diplomatic outreach to Algeria—frequently reverberate along these sensitive border zones, complicating regional security coordination.