Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles on Monday demanded that Morocco investigate the irregular entry of 53,060 migrants into Ceuta that began last Thursday, amid sharp political tensions and the detection of Moroccan intelligence agents infiltrated among the migrant groups.
The Civil Guard confirmed that Moroccan intelligence agents had infiltrated the migrant waves to gauge Spain’s state response, specifying that this was “not an exceptional episode” but rather “a similar modus operandi to that seen during other moments of high migratory pressure at the Ceuta and Melilla borders.”
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The mass crossing resulted in 88 fatalities according to Ceuta’s government—though Spain’s government delegation puts the figure at 72—primarily due to drowning or crushing, while Rabat officially acknowledges 11 deaths on its territory.
Suspicion has fallen on Fouad Ali El Himma, known as Morocco’s “Viceroy” and an advisor to King Mohamed VI, as the official believed to have ordered the mass entry.
Visiting the Emergency Intervention Battalion (BIEM IV) in Zaragoza, Robles declared that “whoever was behind this—whether the mafias or whoever consented to it—will have to assume responsibilities,” and underscored that “neither Spain nor Morocco can look the other way in the face of this humanitarian drama.”
In contrast, Morocco’s Interior Ministry attributed the incident to “malicious exploitation of the digital space and the activity of human trafficking networks,” compounded by “the promotion of misleading information and misinterpretations that accompanied the recent decisions issued by Spanish judicial authorities.”
Lo que ha sucedido es un ataque a la integridad territorial de España y merece nuestra más rotunda y enérgica condena.
Toda España está con la ciudadanía de Ceuta. El Gobierno de España está con la Ciudad Autónoma.
Gracias por la cooperación que siempre hemos mantenido con el… pic.twitter.com/ZqKdUdu7Oy
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) July 31, 2026
The humanitarian dimension is reflected in the 1,206 unaccompanied foreign minors currently housed in shelters—862 in Ceuta and 344 in Melilla—a figure that quadruples the local maximum capacity of 84 places.
Melilla’s president, Juan José Imbroda, urgently called on the Spanish government to take responsibility for the 260 excess minors, noting they are young children who have expressed their desire to return, and denounced Morocco’s non-compliance with the 2007 bilateral repatriation agreement—in force since 2013—stating that “there are children who want to go back; the problem is that Morocco has never admitted a single one of its minors, never.”
Of the more than 50,000 migrants who entered Ceuta, approximately 48,000 returned within 48 hours. Meanwhile, police continue searching for individuals on Spanish territory, while forensic experts have already completed 22 autopsies on the border victims.
From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.