Sanchez: ‘Russian and Israeli networks spread false claims about Ceuta’

Pedro Sanchez says false information helped turn Ceuta’s migration crisis into a mass arrival, accusing Russian and Israeli networks of distorting Spanish law and feeding far-right narratives.

In an interview with Cadena SER, the Spanish prime minister rejected claims that people who entered the North African enclave by swimming could not be turned back at the border. He said the claim misrepresented an Aug. 8 Supreme Court ruling concerning unaccompanied minors who arrived by sea where no border barriers existed.

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There were Russian and Israeli networks that spread a lie.

Sanchez said the ruling had circulated through social media as disinformation, including through criminal organizations. He associated the campaign with what he called “an international far-right movement” that uses migration to attack Spain and Europe and divide them.

The scale of the arrivals was considerable. About 70,000 people entered Ceuta on July 30 and 31, Sanchez said, and nine out of 10 later returned to Morocco. Around 5,000 remained, including about 1,500 minors in his account. The description put the number of unaccompanied minors at about 1,200.

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An international far-right movement that uses migration not only to attack Spain but also Europe, and divide it.

The government’s immediate task, Sanchez said, was to relocate those still in Ceuta to temporary reception centers so authorities could identify them, conduct initial assessments, and process returns or asylum claims. Reception capacity had grown from 500 places before the crisis to 3,300, with an agreement expected to increase it to 6,000. Voluntary returns were continuing, and 3,222 people had gone back to Morocco by Aug. 10.

Sanchez said the causes of the mass entry remained under investigation. He rejected claims that Moroccan authorities had relaxed border controls, saying no intelligence service working regularly with Spain had raised any doubt about Moroccan involvement. “The Spanish government must act on the data,” he said, adding that the clearest fact so far was the distortion of the Supreme Court ruling.

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The Spanish government must act on the data.