The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez qualified the mass entry of people into Ceuta, at the end of July, as a "hybrid attack" against Spain and the European Union, involving Israel, the United States and a far-right international. Sánchez ruled out responsibilities on the part of Morocco, stating that there is no information from Spanish intelligence services or security forces pointing to the participation of the neighboring country in the crisis.
According to Sánchez, what happened was the distortion on social networks of a ruling by the Spanish Supreme Court regarding the return of migrants who illegally cross borders by swimming. This disinformation was exploited by criminal organizations, with rumors and lies spreading through social networks associated with Russia, Israel and the international far-right.
Of the tens of thousands of people who entered Ceuta illegally, 5,000 remain in the city and 1,200 are minors. Sánchez stated that the majority will predictably be returned to Morocco as they do not meet the conditions for asylum, with there having been more than 100 deportations in the last month of people who committed crimes. The Prime Minister stressed that the Spanish government had no prior information predicting the magnitude of the crisis, which involved more than 70,000 people in an enclave with approximately 83,500 inhabitants.
