Spain's leader struggles to answer lawmakers about Ceuta border crisis

MADRID (AP) — A day after tens of thousands of Spaniards protested the government’s handling of the Ceuta border crisis, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez struggled to field lawmakers’ questions about the matter, including what role Morocco played in the deadly mass crossing in July.

Five weeks after the incident, it remains unclear how 72,000 people were able to stream across the border shared by Spanish exclave in North Africa and Morocco in the first place. While rejecting suggestions that Moroccan authorities helped orchestrate the incident, Sanchez said Moroccan police “allowed the border to be crossed.”

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Migrants wait to buy food at a store in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Francis González)

Protesters gather in support of Ceuta to mark the city's anniversary in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Gabriel Luengas/Europa Press via AP)

Protesters gather in support of Ceuta to mark the city’s anniversary in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Gabriel Luengas/Europa Press via AP)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez addresses lawmakers about the situation in Ceuta, the Spanish exclave in North Africa facing a migrant crisis, during a session of Parliament in Madrid, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (Fernando Sánchez/Europa Press via AP)

Sánchez said his government would release key reports about the border breach, but did not say when they would be made public or what they would entail.

He also elevated the official death toll from the event to 141 people, up significantly from the most-recent estimate of a total 96 in Spain and Morocco, provided by authorities in Ceuta and Morocco’s National Human Rights Council. He cited the revised figure twice, but neither his office nor the interior ministry could say how it had been tallied when contacted by The Associated Press.

Sánchez is facing mounting scrutiny amid a prolonged humanitarian crisis in Ceuta, where the flood of thousands of migrants has angered residents in the tiny community, which is ill-equipped to handle such an influx.

Top government officials have at times provided conflicting information about the event. Last week, the defense ministry said Spain’s intelligence agency provided prior warning of the border rush, while the interior ministry and others said it had not.

Spaniards on Wednesday joined protests in support of Ceuta, demanding solutions to the city’s ongoing tensions and calling for Sánchez step down. The crisis is shaping up to be one of the most serious threats his government has faced. Sánchez faced a barrage of questions on Thursday from lawmakers after his opening address alongside calls for early elections.

“The people of Ceuta have been without normality, without security and without answers for over a month. And us Spaniards are at the same time perplexed and outraged in the face of the violation of our territorial integrity,” said opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo of the center-right Popular Party.

“Why are you afraid of Morocco?” Feijóo asked.

Most of the migrants who crossed into Ceuta in late July returned to neighboring Morocco or were ushered back within days. But around 5,000 people, including 1,200 minors remain in the city weeks later, according to the national government. Ceuta’s local government cites a higher figure of about 9,000 people.

Sánchez, who faces an election next year, has said a misinterpretation of a Supreme Court ruling and disinformation on social media encouraged people to rush the border.

The prime minister has also accused social media accounts linked to Russia and Israel and right-wing groups of exploiting and amplifying the Ceuta crisis after it happened on July 30 and 31. Israel and Russia have denied the claim.

Sánchez also maintained there was no evidence Morocco’s government was behind the mass crossing.

“I can assure you that 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 said.

Earlier this week, Spanish media reported that a police report had highlighted the alleged permissiveness of Moroccan security forces in the incident, but Spanish officials denied that the document blamed the Moroccan government.

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,” in Ceuta, but said the same force effectively took control of it later.

As questions have grown on the right and left in Spain about Morocco’s role in the event, the Spanish leader said he would wait until there was solid evidence about Rabat’s involvement.

“For the record, if such solid evidence existed, we would act accordingly with absolute decisiveness, as the situation demands,” he said.

Sánchez condemned comments from two Moroccan ministers questioning the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla, another Spain’s other territory in North Africa. Spain summoned Morocco’s ambassador in Madrid over the comments, he said.

Morocco’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to questions from the AP seeking comment on Spain summoning the Moroccan ambassador to Madrid or the alleged Spanish police report.

The two exclaves have the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.

Renata Brito in Barcelona contributed to the report.

Gains in big technology stocks and easing bond yields helped lift Wall Street on Thursday even as oil prices marched higher as the U.S. war with Iran escalates.

The S&P 500 was up 0.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 579 points, or 1.1%, as of 11:22 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.2%. The indexes are coming off their first gain after a three-day slide.

Gains in big technology and communication services stocks led the way higher. Their large market values tend to give them more influence over the broader market’s direction.

Microsoft rose 3.2%, Apple gained 1.5% and Meta climbed 4.4%.

Giant chip maker Nvidia, whose high-end chips have emerged as AI’s best building blocks, rose 1.1% after saying it would buy the artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face for $13 billion.

Markets rose in Europe, but ended mixed in Asia.

Oil prices ticked higher as the six-month long U.S. war with Iran intensified.

Iran fired at Kuwait on Thursday in retaliation for U.S. bombardments earlier in the week. The fighting between the U.S. and Iran heated up after the U.S. hit Iranian rocket launchers Sunday on an island in the Strait of Hormuz, saying Iran was planning to use them to send mines into the waterway.

The renewed fighting has sent U.S. crude prices sharply higher this week, up 11%, a trend that continued Thursday. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.1% to $96.72 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.5% to $92.46 a barrel.

Rising oil prices have added to existing inflationary pressures and exacerbated a bond-market sell-off earlier this week.

But bond yields have shown signs of stabilizing.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which tends to impact mortgage rates, dropped to 4.75% from 4.79% late Wednesday. It has been rising steadily throughout the year and was as low as 4.20% at the beginning of 2026.

The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which closely tracks expectations for Federal Reserve moves on interest rates, slid to 4.33% from 4.39%. It remains significantly higher for the year, though, and was as low as 3.50% at the beginning of 2026.

Traders had their eye on several companies following their latest quarterly snapshots.

Snowflake jumped 21.4% after its quarterly profit and revenue blew past analysts’ estimates. The company noted that artificial intelligence continues to be a strong driver for its business.

Other tech companies echoed the theme of strength in AI-related demand, but that wasn’t enough to send their stocks higher.

Broadcom’s results beat Wall Street’s estimates and the chipmaker forecast that its AI chip revenue would double in its fiscal year that ends in 2028. But its stock fell 5.7% after its revenue outlook fell short of expectations.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise also raised its guidance for cloud and AI demand strength as it reported quarterly results that topped analysts’ estimates. But the company’s shares slid 6% on worries about supply constraints and other concerns.

Elsewhere in the market, Tyson Foods fell 6.9% after the meat company lowered its guidance for revenue and operating income for its fiscal year, citing margin compression due to volatile cattle prices amid a severe U.S. cattle shortage.

And Victoria’s Secret slumped 10.4% after its latest quarterly earnings beat Wall Street estimates, but its revenue fell short of expectations.

In economic news, the Labor Department reported Thursday that more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, but layoffs are still rare and jobless claims remain at historically low levels.

On Friday, the crucial U.S. employment report for August is released. The previous report for July showed that the jobs market stalled, with employers cutting positions.

Both inflation and the jobs market have been key focuses for Wall Street and the Federal Reserve.

The Fed is trying to balance its tasks of supporting employment and taming inflation. Wall Street expects the central bank to raise interest rates before the year ends in an effort to cool inflation, which remains well above 3%. The Fed has a stated goal of cooling inflation to a target of 2%.

The government will release August inflation figures Sept. 11, shortly before the Fed’s policymaking committee’s next meeting.

Spain’s leader struggles to answer lawmakers about Ceuta border crisis

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