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 –among them many families with small children– swimming to the coast of the autonomous city. The Spanish government mobilized the army and the border was closed at times.

Since this Thursday, although the figures are, for now, far from those of five years ago, the memory has turned to that unprecedented crisis. The Spanish government has pointed out from the first minute that this time the events do not stem from a discontent with the Alawite country: "We are mobilizing all the necessary resources, working with the Moroccan and international authorities, and preparing the necessary measures to restore normality [at the border of Ceuta] as soon as possible. It is time to build solutions, with responsibility and cooperation," stated the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, on the social network X.

Sánchez, who this week begins his summer holidays after an end of term marked by serious fires, has assured that the central executive is "focused on giving an immediate response to the situation". The Ministry of the Interior has spoken in the same vein, from where they have pointed out 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 parties 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 lashes out at the government

However, the PP has seen in the crisis a vein from which to attack the Spanish government 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. Feijóo has also joined the request of the president of Ceuta for the State to declare "an emergency of national interest".

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 reinforced", added Weber.

The new migration reform has come into force 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 migration policy: it facilitates returns and detentions at the border, leaves a voluntary distribution of migrants, and toughens asylum.

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

In turn, the far-right party Vox registered this Thursday in Congress an urgent request for the appearance of the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, and the director of the National Security Department, Loreto Gutiérrez, so that they can give explanations.

What was the origin of 2021?

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

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 wound with Algeria – a country that maintains a historical tension with Morocco over the Sahara – which has not healed to this day. The crisis in Ceuta comes a week after the visit of the Spanish Prime Minister to the Algerian country.

In 2022, the State 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 on its left. By the end of 2025, the two governments defined the bilateral relationship as "excellent" at a high-level summit at the Moncloa Palace.