Morocco has now deployed a strict security device in the face of the risk that another assault will occur tomorrow, encouraged since last week for this August 15. In recent days, messages have been spread on social networks encouraging young people from different parts of the country to head towards Ceuta. In response, Morocco, which stood by passively during the avalanche of about 80,000 people on July 30, has positioned more than a thousand personnel from the Army, Police, Gendarmerie, and Auxiliary Forces. From Ceuta, the reinforcement of the border on the Moroccan side is very visible. The beach has been filled with concertinas (barbed wire) and patrols of soldiers can be seen on the hill above Tarajal.
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The shielding extends far beyond the border crossing and reaches nearby towns, such as Castillejos, Martil, Rincón and Tetouan; also the roads that connect with the Tangier area and the hills surrounding this entire zone.
At train and bus stations in towns in southern Morocco and large cities like Rabat, Casablanca or Agadir, an unusual presence of young people has been observed. Sources familiar with the situation indicate that some of them may have been subjected to controls to prevent them from using public transport to the north.
Sources consulted by EL MUNDO consider that, for the moment, there is not enough evidence of another avalanche. However, as one of the top Spanish police experts on illegal immigration warns, “we cannot afford the luxury of doubting this threat.” In line with most sources, he adds: “I don’t think something so massive will happen again, at least not that day,” but he concludes: “We would make a worldwide ridicule if we allow a new invasion knowing everything we know now.”
His diagnosis is shared both among security forces and in the OSINT community, which uses open sources, mainly on social networks, to monitor the situation at the border. The exchange of hoaxes and slogans has skyrocketed, but paradoxically, the alarm is having the effect of reducing the chances of it materializing.
“I would say that Saturday will be the calmest day of all,” says a Moroccan businessman with ties to the secret services of both countries. “Right now, the Moroccan border is taken over by the military. For example, they do not allow any minors unaccompanied by adults in that area. Their priority right now is to appear as a reliable ally after what happened in the last two weeks, even if the overacting is largely a show.”
The figures, in any case, are frightening due to their volume. “Whoever leaves [Morocco] on 15-08-2026, put a heart,” writes an Instagram user with two hundred followers in a recent message. Last night, his video had already surpassed 300,000 views, fueled by an algorithm that rewards posts that incite the assault.
Cosmetic measure
Whatever happens tomorrow, the aforementioned experts do fear, however, that the weekend shielding will be a cosmetic measure if it is not prolonged over time. An OSINT expert, for example, has raised to the authorities this week the existence of 28 closed WhatsApp groups in which an imminent assault is debated. “They say if it is not the 15th, it will be the 18th or the 23rd,” he warns before opening a new front shared by various specialists. “The breeding ground has already spread to Melilla. We must be very alert there.”
In the Ceuta area, the deployment includes rapid intervention vehicles. And on some paths, new fences and concertinas are being placed to hinder passage. The riot control units remain prepared and the device also includes water cannons. The goal is also to control gatherings and prevent a mobilization from turning into clashes or riots if a mass of migrants is stopped.
The Moroccan Ministry of the Interior announced on Wednesday the arrest of a group suspected of being involved in activities inciting crossing the border.
On the Spanish side, security has also been intensified. The maritime containment barrier, which has also been installed in Melilla, is one of the novelties in Ceuta compared to July 30. There is more. This Thursday, Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska estimated the police presence at 880 agents, 270 more in two weeks. And there are 714 civil guards, almost 200 more than in July. Marlaska announced “a deployment of the UPR [Prevention and Reaction Units] with another 45 police officers.” If before the avalanche there were a thousand members of the Security Forces, today they exceed 1,500, that is, a 50% increase to which the Army must be added.
