That the mafias made a «self-interested» reading of the Supreme Court ruling that prohibits hot returns of those who enter irregularly by swimming. More than 120 hours after a tide of about 60,000 people headed to Ceuta from Morocco, that is the only explanation offered by Moncloa as to why Spain suffered an «attack», the largest in democracy, on its «territorial integrity», according to Sánchez. Six days after that milestone, what stand out are the silences about Rabat, the divisions in the Government in the attempt to avoid blame… And the dismissal, announced yesterday, of an official who told the truth on Friday – the number of arrivals at that time – before it was communicated by the Ministry of the Interior.
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«Today’s events are related to a ruling», stated the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, late Thursday afternoon, in what was the Government’s first position on why such a flood of people trying to cross to Ceuta had occurred. The head of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, would deepen that thesis the next day, already from the autonomous city, adding the nuance that it was the mafias that had encouraged a call effect taking advantage of the legal loophole opened by the Supreme Court ruling. No one in the Government has deviated from that argument in recent days, avoiding explaining what else could have failed, and how: from the information that the Spanish intelligence services had to provide to the role Morocco might play.
Sánchez was the first to do so, on Friday itself, when he focused on praising the good «dialogue» with Rabat during the crisis to avoid clarifying how it was possible that he did not warn of the tide of people heading to the border. And Albares, yesterday, five days later, stuck to that thesis. Before that, the Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, only referred to a future «evaluation» with the neighboring country, while the Government delegate in Ceuta dodged the issue. Only Robles yesterday asked Rabat to «go all the way to find out what happened».
In any case, to avoid pointing to Morocco, the Executive has been plunged into an internal clash over the other point to which all eyes turn in search of explanations as to how it could happen: the national intelligence services. Interior questioned them when Marlaska, on Saturday, stated that there was «no report that a situation like that of the 30th could have arisen». And the Government spokesperson, Elma Saiz, insisted on that yesterday: «There was no report warning of the magnitude of the figures that had to be responded to». Asked on TVE if that means Intelligence failed, she dodged the answer and only repeated that «the magnitude of this situation was not known».
With the focus on herself, the Defense Minister, department on which the National Intelligence Center (CNI) depends, avoided clarifying yesterday whether this agency warned before 60,000 people crossed the border in Ceuta. She limited herself to defending the work of those dedicated to intelligence tasks, and only slightly entered into conflict with Interior when she recalled that there are «information services» that also depend on that portfolio. In any case, without acknowledging that any of them could have failed if it really did not warn: «They do an exceptional job. They will not catch me in any argument».
And so, asked who is responsible for Spain’s «territorial integrity» being «attacked», Minister Robles again presented the only thesis the Government has accepted as valid: «Who organizes, through the mafias; who deceives people; who tells them they will enter irregularly. Those are the responsible parties».
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Within this framework, five days after the largest irregular entry into Spain in half a century – precisely since the Moroccan Green March to occupy the Sahara – the Executive avoids explaining what failed and how it could have failed, and there are still no responsible parties beyond the «mafias».
In these 120 hours, however, there has been one dismissal at the government level: Moncloa has removed an official from the National Security department, reports Efe, who published last Friday the data that Interior was handling about the number of arrivals that had been counted in Ceuta. She revealed, and then deleted, those data hours before the Government made the same figures public, of a magnitude that still has no explanation.
Rabat says it warned days before about the risk of the Supreme Court ruling
Morocco alerted Spain days before the crisis in Ceuta that the Supreme Court decision from early July weakened a crucial element of cooperation, said a source from the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, adding: migration management is «a shared responsibility».
That source would not be stating that it warned of a flood like the one experienced, but of the risk that existed after the Supreme Court ruling, insofar as it banned ‘hot returns’ of those who arrive by swimming. «Morocco assumes its responsibilities (…). It is a commitment, not a speech. (…) Morocco does not act under pressure, nor blackmail», said the source in a meeting with international agencies, in response to Von der Leyen’s accusation about Rabat’s «pressure» on Spain.
