Pedro Sánchez says government “has nothing to hide” over Ceuta migrant crisis

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told parliament he would make all documents related to the migrant surge into Ceuta public and insisted his government “has nothing to hide,” while large anti-government rallies were held across Madrid and other cities.

Numbers, returns and public scrutiny

Sánchez defended the government’s handling of the crisis, saying the majority of those who crossed into the Spanish enclave were returned quickly. "So, of more than 73,000 people, over 90 percent were returned. With that, this operation became one of the fastest return processes ever carried out in recent European history. And, anyway, I am not the one saying this, the European Commission acknowledged it," the Spanish prime minister told deputies.

He rejected calls from critics for harsher measures at the border, stressing the limits of what authorities can lawfully do. "Spain is a democracy. You cannot take a person by the arm and throw him over the border like a sack of earth," Sánchez said.

At the same time, the prime minister warned that the influx resulted from multiple causes: criminal smuggling networks, deliberate rumours and false information spread on social media. He also said online profiles linked to Russia and Israel, together with international far-right networks, had contributed to the spread of disinformation, although he stopped short of accusing any foreign state of organising the mass crossings.

The political pressure on Sánchez’s government has risen after a wave of demonstrations against its response. Protesters said residents of Ceuta have not been able to resume normal life since the mass incursion on July 30. "I came to point out the situation facing the residents of Ceuta. We want them, in some way, to have again the life they had before July 30, when the mass entry occurred. But, as we see, time passes and they fail to recover their lives. On the contrary, we see the situation worsening day by day," said Pablo Olmedo, a 60-year-old demonstrator.

The demonstrations were officially presented as non‑partisan but were backed and politically promoted by opposition parties, notably the People's Party and the far‑right Vox. Those parties have accused Morocco of being behind the crisis in Ceuta and Melilla, Spain’s two land borders with North Africa.

Photo: press material from the event