Spain’s PM softens tone with Morocco amid fears of new Ceuta migrant rush
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday praised Morocco for bolstering border security amid fresh rumours of another migrant rush to Ceuta, a day after admitting Moroccan “border control failed” during July’s mass crossing.
Spain’s north African territory has been embroiled in a humanitarian crisis since more than 70,000 migrants arrived from neighbouring Morocco on July 30th-31st.
Most returned in the following hours, but thousands have remained for weeks in often deplorable conditions as the small city’s resources were overwhelmed, creating a political storm for Sánchez ahead of next year’s general election.
Having consistently avoided attributing the crisis to Rabat, with which Spain maintains delicate relations, Sánchez had told CNN on Tuesday that Morocco’s “border control failed” during July’s rush.
Authorities had detected fresh calls on social media for another rush to Ceuta and Spain’s other north African territory of Melilla, coinciding with Morocco’s parliamentary election.
But on Wednesday Sánchez told a press conference that “we saw a very large police deployment, at the Ceuta border as well as at the Melilla border” on Tuesday.
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“We should acknowledge this too,” Sánchez said in New York, hitting back at the right-wing opposition that has accused Morocco of orchestrating the rush and blackmailing Spain.
Sánchez has said Morocco needs to provide “explanations and changes” to avoid a repeat of the influx but that no “solid proof” exists to blame Rabat, which claims sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla.
The Socialist premier’s trip to New York for the UN General Assembly also saw him meet another hero of the global left, the city’s mayor Zohran Mamdani.
