Chaos in Spain as thousands of migrants urged to break into Ceuta again | World | News
Ceuta (Image: Getty)
Thousands of people are reportedly being urged to break into Ceuta, Spain, from Morocco again as Europe’s immigration crisis intensifies.
Spain is bracing for fresh chaos at its North African border after intelligence experts warned that thousands of migrants are being urged online to storm the enclave of Ceuta again later this month.
The warning comes as Madrid faces mounting scrutiny over its handling of last week’s unprecedented border crisis, which saw around 72,000 people cross from Morocco into the Spanish territory in just a matter of days.
Around 72,000 people crossed from Morocco into the Spanish territory in just a matter of days (Image: Getty)
Now, Spanish intelligence specialists say a major social media campaign is encouraging another mass crossing on August 15, raising fears the crisis could be repeated.
According to a report by Alicante-based open-source intelligence firm Golden Owl, almost half a million social media accounts were involved in promoting last week’s crossing. Investigators also identified a Facebook group with more than 108,000 members that continues to call on migrants to head for Ceuta later this month.
The latest warning comes as Spain reportedly urged its European Union partners not to publicly blame Morocco for the crisis.
During a virtual meeting of EU interior ministers on Tuesday, Madrid asked fellow member states to avoid criticising Rabat, according to Brussels-based outlet Euractiv, citing officials briefed on the discussions.
The request followed questions from several ministers over how tens of thousands of people had managed to cross into the Spanish enclave in such a short space of time.
Asked directly who was responsible, Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska insisted there did not necessarily have to be anyone to blame.
“There doesn’t necessarily have to be anyone to blame,” he said.
His comments appeared to contrast with those of Defence Minister Margarita Robles, who said earlier this week that whoever had “consented to or tolerated” the crossings “will have to take responsibility”.
“We cannot look the other way, neither Spain nor Morocco, in the face of this human drama,” she said.
A Western government source quoted by Euractiv claimed Morocco had at least tacitly approved the surge as a political warning to Madrid, echoing reports that Spanish intelligence believes Moroccan authorities deliberately stood back rather than actively organising the crossings.
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz has so far been the only major European leader to publicly call on Morocco to take back those who crossed into Ceuta.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, meanwhile, avoided directly naming Morocco, instead warning that migrants should not be used to exert political pressure on the European Union while suggesting closer cooperation with Rabat.
Brussels has instead shifted its focus towards the role social media may have played in the crisis.
Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner said Europol was examining whether online disinformation helped fuel the mass crossings, while the EU’s diplomatic service is investigating whether Russian-linked accounts attempted to exploit the unrest.
