Spaniards are calling for greater control in Ceuta and Melilla, without sacrificing cooperation with Rabat. According to the latest CIS barometer, 86.3 % consider understanding with Morocco important, while 82.2 % want to strengthen the borders.
The migration crisis in Sebta has revived calls for tighter border controls. However, an analysis published in Spain highlights a persistent contradiction: the European economy continues to need foreign workers, while legal immigration opportunities remain insufficient.
A trip to Morocco planned for December for fifteen Spanish women has been cancelled. Frightened by the migration crisis in Ceuta, the participants preferred to withdraw, while several agencies in Zaragoza are reporting a slowdown in bookings to the kingdom.
Morocco says it is prepared to take back the minors who arrived irregularly in Sebta and criticizes Spain for not returning them. Madrid responds that around 600 older procedures remain blocked due to a lack of response from the Moroccan authorities.
A Guardia Civil report identified neither the organizers of the digital mobilization around Ceuta nor any evidence linking it to the Moroccan government or security services. These conclusions nevertheless do not bring the Spanish judicial investigation to an end.
Spanish intelligence had directly alerted Morocco’s DGST and DGED on July 29, on the eve of the mass crossings into Ceuta. The calls detected on social media brought together up to 180,000 subscribers.
A yacht attributed to Mohammed VI was filmed off the coast of Ceuta on Thursday, September 10. Flying the Moroccan flag, the sailboat was sailing in front of several vessels that appeared to be accompanying it.
Declassified Spanish reports establish a possible link between Pedro Sánchez’s trip to Algeria and the loosening of Moroccan controls during the migration crisis in Ceuta.
Spain should return Sebta to Morocco. This is the position defended by Howard W. French, former New York Times correspondent and a renowned specialist on Africa, who believes that Spanish sovereignty over the city rests on a historical anomaly destined to disappear.
The European Union will provide Spain with 114.7 million euros following the mass crossings from Morocco at the end of July. Part of this sum will directly fund new surveillance resources in Sebta: thermal cameras, buoys and underwater drones.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo directly challenged Pedro Sánchez’s relations with Morocco before the Spanish Parliament. “If Morocco speaks, you’re out,” the opposition leader told the prime minister, whom he accuses of no longer being a “free” president.
Some 70,000 Sahrawis could obtain Spanish nationality through a law that is due to be submitted to Congress on Thursday. The PSOE has decided to support it, but some Socialists acknowledge fearing the consequences for relations with Morocco.