Ceuta migrant influx exposes intelligence and policy failures

Spain’s interior minister Fernando Grande‑Marlaska said the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) did not warn authorities before a massive wave of migrants entered the autonomous city of Ceuta, a claim that validates long‑standing accusations from the far‑right Vox party. The surge, which brought between 60,000 and 75,000 people across the border and left at least 67 dead, overwhelmed police and civil‑guard forces.

Opposition leaders, including Vox president Santiago Abascal and People’s Party head Alberto Núñez Feijóo, said intelligence services had issued alerts days and even hours before the crossing, but the government failed to act, refusing to deploy the army despite prepared units. Both parties criticised the Spanish administration’s reliance on Morocco, whose king Mohamed VI was said to have signaled a “gesture of magnanimity” at the border, while Moroccan security appeared passive as migrants crossed.

The episode has sparked a political showdown over migration policy, border security and the perceived lack of coordination between Spain’s security agencies and its Moroccan partner.