MADRID, September 10 — Spain’s National Intelligence Center warned authorities in Ceuta of possible “mass entries” by migrants one day before more than 70,000 people stormed the border fences of the Spanish North African exclave, according to a trove of more than 40 documents declassified by the Spanish government on Wednesday. The material, which includes internal alerts, intelligence reports, charts and communications from multiple law enforcement and intelligence agencies, puts the CNI’s warning squarely in the record.
One urgent memo sent to authorities in Ceuta the day before the crossing warned of “several calls to carry out entries into Ceuta,” adding: “There are two different groups with a total of 180,000 followers, just to give you an idea of its scale.”
A warning from the border police
CENIF, a border division of the National Police, published its own warning about the social media groups a day before the incident. “Internal communications have been detected in migrant groups in which they are trying to organize mass entries on the night of 29/07/2026,” it read. The crossing itself occurred on July 30 and 31, 2026, when more than 72,000 individuals crossed into Spanish territory from Morocco.
Scores of migrants died in the attempt, most by drowning. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the documents prove his government had not been warned of the magnitude of the crisis, noting the CNI alerted only authorities in Ceuta and not the military or Ministry of Defense.
“This is understandable because, with the information available at the time, no one could have foreseen the migration crisis that unfolded on the 30th and 31st,” Sanchez said on social media. “No competent body did so. Neither in Spain nor the EU.”
Brussels opens the purse
Also on Wednesday, the European Union announced it would grant Spain some €115 million (about US$130 million) in emergency financial aid to help bolster the bloc’s external borders and return thousands of individuals who overwhelmed authorities in Ceuta in late July. Spain initially requested the funding on August 24.
Brussels said the funds would help finance “measures to enhance border surveillance, border protection and security-related infrastructure” such as thermal cameras, floating buoy systems and underwater drones, and would “also serve to set up facilities for the screening of migrants, as well as to support returns of those who remain illegally in Ceuta.” European Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen said: “The situation in Ceuta has put pressure on our external borders.
Our message remains clear: We are committed to combating illegal migration and ensuring the swift return of those who remain illegally in Ceuta.” Although most of those who breached Ceuta’s borders have been returned, thousands remain, many of them unaccompanied minors living in dire conditions. The incident caused a major rift among EU member states, most publicly between Spain’s left-wing government and Italy’s far-right leadership.
Although Sanchez has said there is “no solid proof” that Morocco was to blame, Madrid’s top criminal court on Monday opened an investigation into whether African authorities had facilitated the illegal rush. The detail that matters next is the criminal court’s inquiry, and whether the declassified trail of alerts — CNI to Ceuta, CENIF to whoever was listening — prompts any rethink of how Spain routes its border warnings.
