Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said that the investigation into the mass arrival of at least 72,000 migrants in the North African enclave of Ceuta last month is still ongoing, while accusing far-right networks of spreading "fake information" about the events.
In an interview with Cadena Ser radio on Monday, Sánchez said that after the influx on 30 and 31 July, "there was a spread of rumours and disinformation, from social networks linked both to Russia and to Israel, and to an ultra-right international that always uses migration not only to attack Spain, but also to attack Europe and divide it."
The prime minister also dismissed any suggestion that Moroccan authorities were involved in the mass crossing. "No intelligence service with which the Spanish government normally cooperates sheds any doubt, or rather, suggests any doubt, about the involvement in one way or another of the Moroccan authorities," he said.
Emergency funding for Ceuta
The Spanish government plans to approve an emergency package worth €165 million for Ceuta's recovery at Tuesday's Council of Ministers meeting. According to local media, this sum will be added to a previously announced medium-term recovery plan of €180 million, which was unveiled by First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo.
The new funding is intended to revive the local economy and strengthen public services after the migrant influx disrupted activity in the autonomous city and shaped the start of the political year. Of the total, €80 million will be channelled into Ceuta's economy over the next four months, with another €70 million earmarked for 2027.
Last week, Spain asked the European Commission for support from Frontex and Europol to assist with the screening of migrants staying irregularly in Ceuta, according to several Spanish media outlets. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has requested that Frontex, Europol and the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) "reinforce the device set up to address the management of the triage and subsequent processing of the personal files of the immigrants who still remain in Ceuta irregularly."
The Interior Ministry also demanded the extension of Operation Minerva, a joint initiative of the Spanish police and Frontex, until 2 September, or until "the situation created in the autonomous city is resolved." Madrid has also asked for the EUAA's assistance in conducting interviews and providing interpreters to help triage migrants.
Tensions have been high in the territory of around 80,000 people since the mass crossing in July, which triggered a Europe-wide migrant alert. Spain's leftist government says most of the migrants have since left the enclave of 18.5 square kilometres, but thousands remain, wandering the streets and sleeping on beaches.
Demonstrations have intensified in recent days, with some protesters clashing with police on Thursday at a beach where migrants have been sleeping. Some of their belongings were burned. Ceuta and Melilla, another small Spanish territory in North Africa, form Europe's only land border with Africa.
The situation in Ceuta has drawn attention across the continent, with a solidarity flotilla heading to the enclave as tensions ease. The unrest has also been marked by clashes between anti-migrant protesters and police, and locals blocking Red Cross aid for migrants. The Spanish government's request for EU border reinforcements has been described as a sign of the enclave's precarious position.
