North African exclave
Secret service warned of mass arrival of migrants in Ceuta
Updated on September 9, 2026 – 9:48 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
At the end of July, tens of thousands of migrants arrived in Ceuta within hours. New documents now provide insight into Spanish intelligence warnings about the unprecedented mass arrivals in the exclave.
The Spanish secret service CNI has informed the authorities Ceuta warned of a possible “land and sea attack” on the North African exclave a day before the unprecedented mass arrival of migrants at the end of July. This emerges from secret documents released by the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez Madrid have now been released.
Accordingly, on July 29, the CNI informed both the government representation in Ceuta and the Guardia Civil police unit about calls on social networks to cross the border the following day. According to these warnings, two corresponding groups had a total of around 180,000 followers.
In another communication from the CNI there was talk of planned attempts to reach Ceuta by swimming and over the border fence. According to the documents that have now been released, the CNI also informed the Moroccan authorities.
Thousands of migrants are still in Ceuta
According to government figures, up to 80,000 migrants arrived on July 30th and 31st Morocco off to Ceuta. Most then returned to Morocco. However, thousands remain in the Spanish exclave.
The government released around 40 documents from the period between July 1st and August 1st. According to his own statements, Sánchez wants to prove that the government was not warned about such a dimension before the mass arrival. There was initially no statement from either the government or the opposition on the new publications.
EU is putting together a multi-million dollar aid package
In Brussels the EU announced in the afternoon that Spain to provide around 115 million euros to deal with the migration crisis in Ceuta. The money will be used to strengthen border protection and border surveillance. It is also about the humane accommodation of unaccompanied minors and the return of people without a right of residence, as the EU Commission announced.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares described the announcement as fantastic in the evening after talks with EU representatives. At the same time, however, he made it clear that from a Spanish perspective this can only be a first step.
