Rabat – Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso is the latest Spanish politician to embrace the unproven claims that Moroccan intelligence helped coordinate the late July mass migration crossings into Ceuta, indicating the alarming intensification of Spain’s political instrumentalization of the Ceuta crisis.
Ayuso criticized Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Saturday over his handling of the Ceuta migration crisis and again described the mass crossings as a coordinated operation orchestrated by Morocco.
Speaking at an event marking the start of the political year for Spain’s conservative Popular Party (PP) in Madrid, Ayuso decried Sánchez’s response to the crisis and accused him of failing to protect Ceuta. Spanish media reported that she and PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo both pointed to an alleged role for Moroccan intelligence services in the July influx.
The claims come days after Sánchez rejected the idea that Morocco had planned the operation.
Speaking in Spain’s Congress on September 3, Sánchez said there was no solid evidence showing that Moroccan authorities organized or orchestrated the mass crossing. His comments followed the release of a Spanish police report that raised questions about the role of Moroccan security forces during the crisis.
The report examined the arrival of more than 70,000 people into Ceuta on July 30 and 31, one of the largest border crossings ever recorded at the Spanish enclave. It alleged that Moroccan security forces showed unusual passivity and, in some cases, may have helped migrants move toward the border. However, the report did not establish that the Moroccan government ordered or planned the operation.
Moroccan political analyst Samir Bennis has argued that Morocco risks becoming a collateral victim of Spain’s internal political and institutional struggles. He said the controversy showed how the police report had been presented and distorted in parts of the Spanish media to suggest Moroccan responsibility, despite the report not directly attributing the mass crossing to the Moroccan state.
Morocco has rejected accusations that its security officers deliberately allowed the mass crossing. Rabat has instead pointed to factors including social media, human trafficking networks, and confusion among migrants about access to Spain.
The dispute has now become a wider political fight inside Spain. Opposition parties have used the police report to attack Sánchez’s government, while the prime minister has defended his approach and called for evidence before directly blaming Rabat.
