Overview
- Spain’s National Intelligence Centre warned on July 29 that social‑media groups were calling for a mass attempt to enter Ceuta the next day and sent alerts to Ceuta officials and Moroccan intelligence before tens of thousands crossed on July 30–31.
- Roughly 70,000–72,000 people entered the enclave over two days, NGOs estimate about 140 people died during the July surge, and authorities say between about 5,000 and 10,000 migrants remain in makeshift conditions in Ceuta.
- A declassified WhatsApp note from the CNI quoted calls for an “assault on the fence and by sea” and named two online groups with about 180,000 followers that intelligence had been tracking.
- The government says the warnings did not predict the scale of the influx and stresses some messages arrived through informal channels, but the release of 40 documents has triggered protests, opposition demands for accountability, and open criminal investigations.
- The files describe Moroccan security as passive rather than orchestration and have led to EU emergency funding for border upgrades and returns, while the episode raises longer‑term questions about Spain‑Morocco cooperation, border operations, and protection for migrants and minors.