Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Thursday rejected suggestions that Moroccan authorities helped orchestrate the deadly mass crossing of migrants from Morocco into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta. This comes amid growing pressure on his government over its handling of the crisis.
“I can assure you that no institution — neither the diplomatic service, nor the European Commission, nor any international body — has provided the Spanish government with solid evidence that Morocco planned or carried out the incident. None,” Sánchez told lawmakers.
Earlier this week, tens of thousands of Spaniards in cities across the country joined protests against the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ceuta, demanding solutions and Sánchez's resignation. In late July, approximately 72,000 migrants swam or climbed into Ceuta, a Spanish territory in North Africa with a population of about 84,000. Most were returned to Morocco or escorted back across the border within days, but around 5,000, including 1,200 minors, remained in the city weeks later, according to the national government. Ceuta’s local government reports a higher number.
Sánchez stated that 141 people died attempting to reach the city, though neither his office nor Spain's interior ministry detailed how the figure was calculated.
Questions persist regarding the cause of the mass crossing, which the Spanish government attributes to a social media campaign. Reports earlier this week in Spanish media cited a police report that indicated alleged permissiveness by Moroccan security forces during the incident, but Spanish officials denied that the document blamed Rabat.
On Thursday, however, Sánchez acknowledged that for a 10-hour period on July 30, when migrant arrivals peaked, Morocco’s Gendarmerie police “allowed the border to be crossed