{"id":80128,"date":"2026-09-03T16:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/80128\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T16:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:36:13","slug":"spains-leader-struggles-to-answer-lawmakers-about-ceuta-border-crisis-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/80128\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain’s leader struggles to answer lawmakers about Ceuta border crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

MADRID (AP) \u2014 A day after tens of thousands of Spaniards protested<\/a> the government’s handling of the Ceuta border crisis, Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez struggled to field lawmakers’ questions about the matter, including what role Morocco played in the deadly mass crossing in July.<\/p>\n

Five weeks after the incident, it remains unclear how 72,000 people were able to stream across the border<\/a> 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.”<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez is facing mounting scrutiny amid a prolonged humanitarian crisis<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Spaniards on Wednesday joined protests<\/a> in support of Ceuta, demanding solutions to the city’s ongoing tensions and calling for S\u00e1nchez step down. The crisis is shaping up to be one of the most serious threats his government has faced. S\u00e1nchez faced a barrage of questions on Thursday from lawmakers after his opening address alongside calls for early elections.<\/p>\n

“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 N\u00fa\u00f1ez Feij\u00f3o of the center-right Popular Party.<\/p>\n

“Why are you afraid of Morocco?” Feij\u00f3o asked.<\/p>\n

Most of the migrants who crossed into Ceuta in late July returned to neighboring Morocco or were ushered back<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez, who faces an election next year, has said a misinterpretation of a Supreme Court ruling and disinformation on social media<\/a> encouraged people to rush the border.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Questions about Morocco’s role<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez also maintained there was no evidence Morocco’s government was behind the mass crossing.<\/p>\n

“I can assure you that that no institution \u2014 neither the diplomatic service, nor the European Commission, nor any international body \u2014 has provided the Spanish government with solid evidence that Morocco planned or carried out the incident. None,” S\u00e1nchez said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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

S\u00e1nchez 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The two exclaves have the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Akram Oubachir in Casablanca, Morocco, and Renata Brito in Barcelona contributed to the report.<\/p>\n

Suman Naishadham, The Associated Press<\/p>\n

\"Spanish<\/p>\n

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez 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 S\u00e1nchez\/Europa Press via AP) – The Associated Press<\/p>\n

\"Spanish<\/p>\n

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez 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 S\u00e1nchez\/Europa Press via AP) – The Associated Press<\/p>\n

\"Spanish<\/p>\n

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez 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 S\u00e1nchez\/Europa Press via AP) – The Associated Press<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/p>\n

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) – The Associated Press<\/p>\n

\"Migrants<\/p>\n

Migrants wait to buy food at a store in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo\/Francis Gonz\u00e1lez) – The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MADRID (AP) \u2014 A day after tens of thousands of Spaniards protested the government’s handling of the Ceuta…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[30070,16745,30069,3299,82,29204,2264,205,1846,17,17402,1152,30068],"class_list":["post-80128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-a-day","tag-ap","tag-ap-photo-francis-gonzalez","tag-ceuta","tag-madrid","tag-moroccan","tag-morocco","tag-pedro-sanchez","tag-sanchez","tag-spain","tag-spaniards","tag-spanish","tag-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}