Spanish government clashes over intelligence warnings as 8,000 migrants remain in Ceuta

Intelligence dispute divides Spanish cabinet

Seven weeks after approximately 80,000 migrants entered Ceuta on 30 July 2026, the Spanish government faces severe political division over advance warnings. On 9 September 2026, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declassified documents from the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) to address arguments over whether authorities received prior notice. The released records revealed that intelligence officers had reported online calls in Morocco preparing for a mass crossing. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska had previously claimed that no reports or notices predicted the scale of the event. Defense Minister Margarita Robles defended the agency before the Congress of Deputies.

Operationally in Ceuta, our Armed Forces, intelligence services and obviously the CNI carried out the work that was legally required of them and shared and analyzed it with State Security Forces and Government Delegation personnel.

Following the release, the Prime Minister's office argued that the agency failed to deliver formal alerts through official command chains, stating that the CNI must improve its methods. Government officials estimate that restoring regular conditions in the autonomous city will take at least three months.

Local strains and living conditions in Ceuta

The late-July influx temporarily increased the population of the 20-square-kilometre enclave from 82,000 to more than 150,000 residents. An estimated 8,000 migrants, including minors, remain in Ceuta as reception facilities operate far beyond designed capacity. The government facility at Loma Colmenar shelters approximately 1,200 men, who are permitted to leave the grounds between 10:00 and 22:00. Hundreds more sleep in makeshift outdoor camps around official sites in El Tarajal, La Hípica, and residential districts such as El Príncipe and La Reina. Neighborhood residents have reported increasing friction, noise, and sanitation problems near their homes.

I understand them, but they need to understand me. Do you know what it is like to live with hundreds of men outside your doorstep, defecating and urinating on the corners?

Local healthcare workers are reporting rising cases of acute catarrhal infections, tonsillitis, and sinusitis as seasonal temperatures drop. The Ceuta Medical Association reached an agreement with the AMA mutual insurer to host volunteer doctors after union representatives from CESM noted that none of the 100 healthcare workers dispatched by the Ministry of Health were physicians.

Voluntary returns through the Tarajal border

While thousands remain in Ceuta, voluntary returns to Morocco continue daily through an open pedestrian gate at the El Tarajal crossing. Migrants confronting hunger, sickness, and lack of accommodation return on foot to Moroccan territory without identity checks. Departures through the gate proceed at a rate of nearly 1,000 people per week. Many returnees, including relatives of local crossers, reversed their journey after seeing the severe overcrowding and lack of passage to mainland Spain.

You are going to suffer here. It is probable that you sleep on the street and go hungry. And if you cross to the mainland, you will not find a red carpet.

Fatalities recorded during the crossing span between 80 and 140, following search and recovery operations by Spanish and Moroccan rescue teams along the coast.