The Spanish government faces the biggest migratory crisis in Ceuta since 2021

MadridWe have to go back to May 2021 to see images of such a large influx of migrants from Morocco to Ceuta in a few hours. At that time, the diplomatic shock between Rabat and the State led to the arrival of 8,000 migrants in just two days –including many families with small children– swimming to the coast of the autonomous city. Since this Thursday, the memory has moved to that unprecedented migratory crisis. The Spanish government, however, has pointed out from the first minute that this time the events do not stem from a malaise with the Alaouite country: "We are mobilizing all the necessary resources, working with Moroccan and international authorities, and preparing the necessary measures to restore normality [at the Ceuta border] as soon as possible. It is time to build solutions, with responsibility and cooperation," stated the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, via the social network X.

Sánchez, who this week begins his summer holidays after a school year marked by serious fires, has assured that the central executive is "committed to providing an immediate response to the situation". The Ministry of the Interior has expressed itself in the same direction, from where they have indicated that they are already working with Morocco for a "return" of migrants. Fernando Grande-Marlaska will travel urgently to Ceuta this Friday.

But they do not see it the same way from one of the formations that make up Sumar, the minority partner in the coalition government. "[Morocco] will never be a trustworthy country as long as it is governed by a feudal monarchy. You cannot negotiate with a regime that resorts to the instrumentalization of human desperation," stated Tesh Sidi, spokesperson for Más Madrid in Congress, on social media.

The PP attacks the government

However, the PP has seen in the crisis a new vein from which to attack the central executive and its management. The leader of the popular party and head of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has criticized that the situation in the autonomous city is "desperate": "The government [of Pedro Sánchez] cannot look the other way in its obligations because we are facing a national security crisis", Feijóo stated in a social media post.

In parallel, other popular leaders, such as MEP Dolors Montserrat, have not hesitated to accuse Pedro Sánchez's government of "fostering the crisis", while the president of the European People's Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, has called the situation "shameful". "This only shows one thing: the [new] European migration pact must be applied today, not tomorrow. And Frontex must be strengthened", Weber added.

The new migratory reform has come into effect this June and it is a text that the right and far-right have championed, while different social organizations in favor of human rights have criticized it. The regulation is much tougher on migratory policy: it facilitates returns and detentions at the border, allows for a voluntary distribution of migrants, and toughens asylum.

The PP has also claimed its bill registered in Congress just two weeks ago, which asks that "foreigners who are detected or intercepted on the border line of the Ceuta or Melilla demarcation during an attempted entry into national [Spanish] territory may be rejected to prevent their entry into the State".

In turn, the far-right party Vox has registered a request in Congress this Thursday for different members of the government to appear.

What was the origin of 2021?

In 2021, the diplomatic crisis between Morocco and Spain was triggered by Spain's reception of Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front, via an air ambulance. Considered public enemy number one by the regime of Mohamed VI, the Alawite country stated that Ghali's reception would have consequences and, indeed, days after the warning, Moroccan police inaction allowed more than 8,000 people to enter Ceuta.

However, relations between the two countries took a turn in 2022 when Pedro Sánchez's government, specifically the socialist wing, supported the Moroccan plan for Western Sahara. This, however, opened a rift with Algeria – a country that has a historical tension with Morocco over the Sahara – which has not healed to this day. The crisis in Ceuta comes just a week after the visit of the Spanish Prime Minister to the Algerian country.

In 2022, Spain began to support the autonomy proposal put forward by Morocco (and not self-determination historically defended by Spain), a decision that did not have the backing of the space to its left. By the end of 2025, the two governments described the bilateral relationship as "excellent" at a high-level summit at the Moncloa Palace.