Historia
septiembre 3, 2026
Ceuta Protests Put Sánchez on the Defensive Over Morocco
Spain’s opposition says the government failed Ceuta after a mass border crossing, while Sánchez rejects claims that Morocco orchestrated it. A police report alleging unusually permissive security has intensified the dispute without assigning responsibility.
Spain’s opposition and many Ceuta residents portray the mass arrivals as a failure to protect the city, while the Sánchez government attributes the surge to trafficking networks and online misinformation rather than Moroccan direction. Morocco, too, denies any role in organising the crossings.
The dispute has moved from Ceuta’s border to streets across Spain, where protests have turned an acute local humanitarian and security challenge into a test of Sánchez’s authority and Madrid’s relationship with Rabat.
At least 72,000 people crossed from Morocco into Ceuta on 30 and 31 July, according to the accounts; most later returned, but up to 5,000 were reported to remain in makeshift camps, on streets and along beaches. The arrivals prompted near-daily local demonstrations and wider rallies, including one in Madrid that drew more than 50,000 people by government estimates.1
The conservative People’s Party and Vox argue that the government abandoned Ceuta. People’s Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo told demonstrators that “a Spanish city has been invaded, occupied” and that it happened “with the knowledge of the Government of Spain.”1 A Ceuta teacher, David Hernández, similarly described the response as “inadequate, late” and a “complete dereliction of duty.”1
The government rejects the opposition’s interpretation, saying right-wing parties are exploiting the crisis. Sánchez has said Morocco was not responsible, instead blaming trafficking gangs and social-media messages that portrayed the crossing as safe and easy.2 The stakes are heightened by reports that at least 100 people died attempting to swim around the border fence.2
A National Police report has complicated that defence: it said Moroccan security forces showed “total permissiveness” and that deployment near the border was smaller than usual. But it stopped short of concluding that Morocco orchestrated the influx, a distinction Rabat maintains in its denial.1
Online rhetoric has amplified the political confrontation. In one X post, British activist Tommy Robinson backed Vox leader Santiago Abascal and called for Sánchez to leave office, illustrating how the protests have drawn attention beyond Spain.
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