Spain says 70,000 of 72,000 Ceuta migrants have returned

Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has said that 72,000 migrants have entered Ceuta since last Thursday, adding that 70,000 of them have already returned to Morocco.

During his appearance, he also stressed that the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) had not warned of the possibility of a migration crisis of this magnitude, in which more than 80 people lost their lives while trying to cross the border. He also said that his European counterparts had backed the Spanish government’s actions and acknowledged the “effectiveness” of the response deployed.

Grande-Marlaska spoke after the extraordinary meeting of EU interior ministers, held by videoconference on Tuesday at the request of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and backed by 22 member states. At the end of the meeting, EU countries expressed their “strong solidarity” with Spain over the events in Ceuta and pledged to strengthen European early-warning and alert mechanisms for this type of crisis.

The minister described the meeting as “absolutely constructive” and said that the “effective and immediate” response of the Spanish authorities had been acknowledged during the session. However, several of the 22 countries that pushed for the meeting had previously voiced concerns about how risks are managed on Europe’s southern border.

According to Grande-Marlaska, one of the points made clear during the meeting was that Ceuta has a special status within the Schengen area, meaning that no one can leave the autonomous city without undergoing an effective document check.

Grande-Marlaska said on Tuesday that the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) had not warned of an episode similar to the one experienced in 2021. During the press conference following the extraordinary meeting of EU interior ministers, Marlaska defended the work of the CNI and the intelligence services, praising their efforts.

The interior minister insisted that, had there been an alert about a scenario comparable to that of May 2021, when around 10,000 people entered Ceuta in just a few hours, the information would have reached the highest levels of the state. “That did not happen,” he concluded.

An extra €25 million for Ceuta

The government will allocate an additional €25 million to Ceuta to strengthen support for unaccompanied migrant minors who have arrived in the city during the recent migration crisis. The announcement was made on Tuesday by Spain’s Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration and government spokesperson, Elma Saiz.

The new funding comes on top of the €5.5 million approved last July at the Sectoral Conference on Children and Adolescents. As the minister explained, the aim is to ensure an appropriate response to the situation facing the autonomous city.

“The government has been and will continue to be at Ceuta’s side, especially with the most vulnerable,” Saiz said during a press conference.

Saiz also called on all the autonomous regions, including those governed by the Popular Party, to help receive and care for unaccompanied migrant minors.

The government spokesperson also reiterated that the executive had “never” received any report anticipating the scale of the migration crisis that unfolded in Ceuta last Thursday, although it had been working on forecasts of an increase in irregular arrivals over the summer.

Saiz was responding to reports published on Monday citing sources at Morocco’s Foreign Ministry, according to which Rabat had warned Spain days earlier about the possible consequences of a Supreme Court ruling handed down at the beginning of July.

The minister praised Morocco’s cooperation, describing it as key to delivering an “exceptional response” to the emergency, and pointed to the meeting of EU interior ministers, in which Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska took part on Tuesday.

She also highlighted the support expressed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who on Monday praised Spain’s handling of the migration crisis.

Two educational centres to support minors

For their part, sources at the Ministry of Youth and Children said that, in coordination with the Ministry of Education, two educational centres have been made available in Ceuta to accommodate unaccompanied migrant minors, with particular attention to girls.

The same sources said that the Minister for Youth and Children, Sira Rego, will travel to the autonomous city in the coming days to monitor the situation and activate all the resources needed to ensure a dignified reception for children and adolescents.

The planned measures also include implementing the reform of the Immigration Act, which provides for a system to relocate unaccompanied minors from territories under high migratory pressure, such as Ceuta, to other autonomous regions.