Spain's Defence Ministry refers audio of soldiers boasting of beating migrants in Ceuta to court
Spain's Defence Ministry has forwarded recordings published by elDiario.es to the Ceuta court and prosecutors. The audio captures voices apparently belonging to soldiers joking about beating migrants after the late-July mass entry.
Ministry forwards audio to the courts
Spain's Ministry of Defence said on Thursday, 15 October 2026, that it had sent the Ceuta duty court and the prosecutor's office the elDiario.es report, which carries audio of soldiers apparently boasting about beating migrants. The department, led by Margarita Robles, attached the new article to material it had already passed on from 30 September. It described the recordings as alleged criminal conduct by military personnel deployed in Ceuta and said it had asked the Operations Command (MOPS) to establish individual responsibilities.
In its statement, the ministry said:
The information is being forwarded for the appropriate purposes and to preserve the good name of the Armed Forces.
What the recordings contain
According to elDiario.es, three voices that appear to belong to soldiers on guard were recorded on the night of 21 to 22 September by phones of people nearby. The men were stationed on the road beside the Temporary Stay Centre for Immigrants (CETI), near the Los Rosales district, and remained there for about 50 minutes. In one excerpt, a speaker describes how they tricked a migrant into standing behind their vehicle before striking him by surprise. Other exchanges joke about hitting people without gloves. Defence sources say the ministry is still analysing the recordings.
Amnesty's report and the earlier referral
On 30 September the ministry had already passed Amnesty International's report to the same court and prosecutors. Amnesty said a mission to Ceuta between 10 and 15 September gathered 22 direct testimonies describing beatings, harassment, humiliation, theft of money and the confiscation or destruction of mobile phones, attributed to military patrols. The NGO pointed to units from the Regulares and the Legion 'in particular' and described a pattern rather than isolated acts. The report did not identify victims or alleged attackers. Esteban Beltrán, director of Amnesty International Spain, responded to the new audio:
They are simply punishment operations that seek to humiliate immigrants. And in this case it can clearly be torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
Calls for an update and the investigation
Beltrán said Amnesty had written to the minister asking for an update on the internal investigation Defence announced earlier, including whether it was thorough and whether any soldiers involved had been suspended as a precaution. Defence sources told RNE that the ministry is working on the audio with the competent authority handling the probe opened in September. They said the revelations would not, in principle, affect that ongoing investigation, and that the ministry remains in permanent contact with the operations command overseeing the units in Ceuta. The association of troops and marines, ATME, asked that presumption of innocence be respected and that it be verified whether the voices really belong to soldiers. Its president, Marco Antonio Gómez, said anyone who breaks the law has no place in the armed forces, and asked for the same speed in investigating attacks on soldiers.
Context and open questions
elDiario.es says dozens of migrants have for months denounced beatings and degrading treatment by military patrols, citing testimonies, photos, medical reports and videos it said it had verified. The abuse allegations concern migrants who arrived from Morocco during the mass entry at the end of July. The timeline of the case is set out below.
- Amnesty International mission in Ceuta collects 22 testimonies
- Night on which the audio is reportedly recorded near the CETI
- Defence forwards Amnesty report to Ceuta court and prosecutors
- Defence forwards elDiario.es report and audio to the same court and prosecutors
The ministry's statement does not say whether any soldier has been identified. Open questions include the authenticity and provenance of the audio, which ATME says must be checked, and the outcome of the investigations the ministry has ordered.