Spain's leader struggles to answer lawmakers about Ceuta border crisis

MADRID — A day after tens of thousands of Spaniards protested the government’s handling of the Ceuta border crisis, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez struggled to field lawmakers' questions about the matter, including what role Morocco played in the deadly mass crossing in July.

Five weeks after the incident, few answers have been provided about how 72,000 people were able to stream across the border shared by the Spanish exclave in North Africa and Morocco. While rejecting suggestions that Moroccan authorities helped orchestrate the incident, Sánchez said Moroccan police “allowed the border to be crossed."

He said his government would release key reports about the border breach soon, but did not say when they would be made public or what they would entail.

In his remarks, the Spanish leader said 141 people had died during the mass crossing, up from the most-recent official estimate of 96 deaths in Spain and Morocco, provided by authorities in Ceuta and Morocco's National Human Rights Council. Neither his office nor the interior ministry could say how it had been tallied when contacted by The Associated Press.

Sánchez is facing mounting scrutiny amid a prolonged humanitarian crisis in Ceuta, where the flood of thousands of migrants has angered residents in the tiny community, which is ill-equipped to handle such an influx.

In the event’s aftermath, top officials in the Sánchez government have at times provided conflicting information. Last week, Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles said Spanish intelligence had provided prior warning of the border rush, while Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said it had not.

Spaniards on Wednesday joined protests in support of Ceuta, demanding solutions to the city's ongoing tensions and calling for Sánchez to step down. The crisis is shaping up to be one of the most serious threats his government has faced. Sánchez faced a barrage of questions on Thursday from lawmakers after his opening address alongside calls for early elections.

“The people of Ceuta have been without normalcy, without security and without answers for over a month. And we Spaniards are at the same time perplexed and outraged in the face of the violation of our territorial integrity,” said opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo of the center-right Popular Party.

“Why are you afraid of Morocco?” Feijóo asked.

Most of the migrants who crossed into Ceuta in late July returned within days to neighboring Morocco or were ushered back. But around 5,000 people, including 1,200 minors, remain in the city weeks later, according to the national government. Ceuta’s local government cites a higher figure of about 9,000 people.

Sánchez, who faces an election next year, has said a misinterpretation of a Supreme Court ruling and disinformation on social media encouraged people to rush the border.

The prime minister has also accused social media accounts linked to Russia and Israel and right-wing groups of exploiting and amplifying the Ceuta crisis after it happened on July 30 and 31. Israel and Russia have denied the claim.

Questions about Morocco's role

Sánchez also maintained there was no evidence Morocco's government was behind the mass crossing.

“I can assure you that no institution — neither the diplomatic service, nor the European Commission, nor any international body — has provided the Spanish government with solid evidence that Morocco planned or carried out the incident. None,” Sánchez said.

Earlier this week, Spanish media reported that a police report had highlighted the alleged permissiveness of Moroccan security forces in the incident, but Spanish officials denied that the document blamed the Moroccan government.

Sánchez acknowledged that for a 10-hour period on July 30 when migrant arrivals peaked, Morocco’s Gendarmerie police “allowed the border to be crossed" in Ceuta, but said the same force effectively took control of it later.

As questions have grown on the right and left in Spain about Morocco's role in the border rush, the Spanish leader said he would only take action if he had evidence about Rabat's involvement.

“For the record, if such solid evidence existed, we would act accordingly with absolute decisiveness, as the situation demands,” he said.

Sánchez condemned comments from two Moroccan ministers questioning the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's other territory in North Africa. Morocco's ambassador in Madrid had been summoned by Spain over the remarks, he said.

Morocco’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to questions from the AP seeking comment about the diplomatic row or the Spanish police report.

The two exclaves have the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.