Overview
- A mass crossing from Morocco at the end of July, peaking on July 30–31, saw tens of thousands enter Ceuta and remains the trigger for the current crisis.
- The central government declared a national‑security interest and appointed Minister Ángel Víctor Torres to lead a single command to coordinate identification, security and returns in Ceuta.
- Madrid says it still lacks a precise census of people remaining in Ceuta and is working from an estimate of about 5,000 while teams continue filiation work that so far recorded roughly 1,800 adults and 1,410 minors.
- Defence Minister Margarita Robles said the CNI shared warnings before the surge but Interior Minister Fernando Grande‑Marlaska denied any such report, a public contradiction that has led the opposition to demand convening the parliamentary Commission of Secretos Oficiales.
- The government stresses it will pursue legal returns where possible but faces limits because of court precedents on repatriating minors and must negotiate proposed migration law reforms with Parliament; in Mexico President Sheinbaum backed Graciela Domínguez as interim Sinaloa governor while Morena opens an internal review of Rubén Rocha Moya.