Ceuta crisis: Sánchez insists government had no prior warnings

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stood firm in parliament on Wednesday, flatly rejecting accusations that his government ignored advance warnings before thousands of migrants crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, triggering one of the country’s worst border emergencies in years.

“It is absurd to think we knew and did nothing,” Sánchez told lawmakers, his voice steady despite sustained jeering from opposition benches. The session came just 48 hours after an estimated 35,000 protesters took to the streets in Madrid, Barcelona, and Seville, demanding answers and, in some cases, his resignation.

What Sánchez told parliament

The prime minister’s appearance before congress was tense from the opening gavel. Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused the government of “criminal negligence,” citing reports that Spanish intelligence services had flagged unusual movement in Moroccan border zones at least two weeks before the crisis erupted. Sánchez dismissed those claims as politically motivated distortions.

He said border security units had been operating at standard capacity and that the scale of the crossing — more than 8,000 people arrived over a 72-hour window, including roughly 1,500 unaccompanied minors — was simply impossible to predict with precision. But critics aren’t buying it.

Protests put pressure on Madrid

The demonstrations over the weekend were loud and, in parts, angry. In Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, organisers claimed a turnout of around 12,000 people. Barcelona saw another 9,000. Smaller rallies played out in at least six other cities.

Protest signs ranged from demands for tougher border enforcement to calls for more humane treatment of the migrants already inside Spanish territory. That split — between those who want stricter controls and those who want better reception conditions — reflects a country genuinely divided on how to respond.

Still, what unified almost everyone on the streets was frustration with what they see as a government caught flat-footed.

The diplomatic dimension

Relations with Morocco sit at the uncomfortable centre of this crisis. Spanish officials won’t say publicly what went wrong with the bilateral security agreements that are supposed to prevent mass crossings. A senior government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said only that “diplomatic channels remain open and active at the highest levels.”

That’s not much of an answer for the 400 Spanish Civil Guard officers currently deployed in Ceuta under emergency protocols, or for the local authorities who have warned that reception facilities are at 180 percent capacity.

What comes next

Sánchez has promised an emergency ministerial review by the end of the week, with a report due to parliament within 30 days. Whether that timeline satisfies his critics is another matter entirely.

And with regional elections in two provinces scheduled for the spring, the political cost of this crisis is far from settled. Opposition parties smell blood. The government is betting that transparency, eventually, will be enough. It’s a big bet.