Spain seeks secret intelligence files on Morocco warnings before Ceuta migration crisis

Spain’s National Court has ordered the government to declassify intelligence documents detailing warnings shared with Morocco before the mass migration attempt toward Ceuta in July, as a judge seeks to establish how much the two countries knew about the planned crossings and what action they took, French-language magazine Jeune Afrique reported.

Judge Maria Tardon gave the Spanish government 15 days on Oct. 27 to release new documents from the National Intelligence Center (CNI), including communications with Morocco’s General Directorate for Studies and Documentation (DGED) and General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST).

The documents could reveal what Spanish intelligence told its Moroccan counterparts, whether Rabat responded to the warnings and how the information influenced security preparations ahead of the crisis.

According to Jeune Afrique, Spanish intelligence began alerting the two Moroccan agencies on July 29 to online groups with around 180,000 members calling for mass crossings into Ceuta, either by swimming or climbing border fences.

Tardon is seeking the full text of the intelligence reports sent to Morocco and any responses from the two agencies.

The inquiry comes as Spain’s right-wing and far-right parties have made migration a central campaign issue ahead of the Nov. 29 elections.

The investigation also points out how social media has become a major tool for organizing irregular migration, with Moroccan authorities reporting a growing shift away from traditional smuggling methods.

Estimates of the number of people involved differed sharply. Moroccan authorities put the figure at nearly 40,000, while Spanish estimates reached 70,000.

The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) documented the scale of the online mobilization, identifying 23 virtual groups with more than 1 million members.

The groups generated around 1,400 daily posts across social media platforms, including calls to cross the border, suggested routes and offers to sell equipment.

After the Ceuta crisis, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez discussed increasing technical and financial assistance to Morocco, particularly for border monitoring and early warning systems. No specific additional funding was announced.

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