Iker Jiménez 'Horizonte' special on Ceuta migration crisis scores record 13.5% share

A break from vacation

Carmen Porter and Iker Jiménez suspended their holidays and assembled a special edition of their Cuatro programme Horizonte on Friday night, responding to the migration crisis unfolding in the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta. Jiménez had been travelling in Asia, near the border between South Korea and North Korea, when he received a call from collaborator Ángel Gaitán while on a flight lasting more than 15 hours.

I was coming on a flight of more than 15 hours and it was Ángel Gaitán who kept telling me what was happening. When we landed I spoke with our network to tell them we had to tell some things.

After landing in Spain, the team assembled rapidly. Jiménez thanked the collaborators who travelled from different parts of the country at short notice.

I want to thank our collaborators because, from very different locations, we called them and they are here with us.

Audience record

Broadcasting on a Friday for the first time, Horizonte captured a 13.5% audience share according to overnight ratings data. The figure marks the highest ever recorded for the programme, and placed it ahead of all competitors in its time slot. The special edition, co-presented by Jiménez and Porter, drew on field reporting and analysis of the sudden influx of migrants arriving in Ceuta from Morocco.

Jiménez's opening reflection

Opening the broadcast, Jiménez addressed viewers directly. He framed the crisis with a question he said he expected the audience would be asking.

I hope you are also there because you will think: what is going on? What sense does all this that we are living have? The perspectives are very different.

He contrasted his experience in South Korea, which he described as orderly in everyday civic habits, with the chaotic images emerging from Ceuta. Jiménez said the juxtaposition of the two worlds created a shock, noting that each nation and Europe itself carry distinct burdens.

Behind the scenes

Carmen Porter joined Jiménez on set for the emergency broadcast. The production team had been reassembled within hours of the decision to go ahead. Network executives at Cuatro approved the schedule change immediately after Jiménez contacted them upon arrival. The episode blended live commentary with guest contributions from analysts familiar with border policy and migration patterns in the western Mediterranean.