Pedro Sánchez: 'Unity and institutional loyalty are the key to Ceuta overcoming this crisis and emerging from it stronger than ever'

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Pedro Sánchez: "Unity and institutional loyalty are the key to Ceuta overcoming this crisis and emerging from it stronger than ever"

President's News - 2026.9.3

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during his speech in the Lower House of Parliament (Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)

During his appearance - at his own request - before the plenary session of the Lower House of Parliament to report on the Government's handling of the events that have taken place in Ceuta since 30 July, the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, defended the response of the State law enforcement forces and agencies to the "sudden" change in the situation on the 30th, when "numerous groups of young people" began to cross the Tarajal breakwater.

Under those circumstances, he explained, "the Spanish officers deployed at the border had to choose between temporarily ensuring the border remained secure or protecting human life. They chose the latter. And I, as President of the Government of Spain and as a Spanish citizen, affirm that they did the right thing."

Pedro Sánchez pointed out that, during the initial phase of the emergency, the Government worked with "two absolute priorities": strengthening the border and swiftly returning those who were not entitled to remain in Spain. He highlighted that, in just 72 hours, around 63,000 people had returned to Morocco - more than 90% of those who had crossed the border during the crisis - "a figure that makes this operation one of the swiftest repatriation processes ever carried out in Europe's recent history, as the European Commission itself has acknowledged".

With regard to the second phase of crisis management, the president explained that the priority had been to address the humanitarian crisis and strengthen Ceuta's public services in order to meet the management challenges facing the city.

The President of the Government of Spain also pointed out that the Government has requested financial and institutional support from the European Commission, as well as the activation of solidarity mechanisms between the regional governments because, he added, "that is how true patriotism is demonstrated". "Unity and institutional loyalty are the key to Ceuta overcoming this crisis and emerging from it stronger than ever. No good will come from any other course of action. And this is because Ceuta is not Spain's border. Ceuta is Spain at the border", he declared.

Pedro Sánchez stated that, as a result, on 25 August, for the first time in the history of the democracy, a "situation of national security interest" was declared - a mechanism for strengthening coordination between government bodies under a single command.

Assessment of reports on the pre-crisis situation

Speech by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, before the Plenary Session of the Lower House of Parliament | Pool Moncloa/ Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

On the possibility that the crisis in Ceuta might have been foreseen, Pedro Sánchez stated that the Government has examined all the reports, messages and verbal notes that the State law enforcement forces and agencies and the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) sent to both the political authorities and the Government Delegation in the autonomous city of Ceuta during that period. "I can assure you that none of them went beyond simply describing the facts or issuing a routine warning, and that none of them foresaw either the scale or the likelihood of what ultimately happened", he maintained.

Pedro Sánchez pointed out that in July the number of attempted crossings by swimming was higher than in the same period in previous years, but he ruled out the possibility that this could have foreshadowed the magnitude of the events that followed: "It is one thing to recognise that the number of people swimming across was increasing, and that extreme caution was required - something which all the relevant authorities did - but it is quite another to predict, within a matter of hours, the arrival of 70,000 people in Ceuta".

Reasons for the mass influx into Ceuta

The President of the Government of Spain outlined some of the factors that may have contributed to triggering the border crisis, although he warned that it is a complex issue: "After a whole month of gathering information, cross-checking data and interviewing officers who were on the ground, what is clear to us is that we are not dealing with a simple, linear event, where A led to B, but rather with a complex, multi-causal phenomenon, in which various actors and factors were involved and fed into one another, probably in an uncoordinated manner."

Pedro Sánchez described a distorted interpretation of the Supreme Court's ruling on the non-application of Additional Provision 10 of the Immigration Act to entries by sea as a "media trigger". As he explained, this interpretation spread via social media and morphed into false rumours. Compounding this, according to the President of the Government of Spain, were the actions of "criminal networks and profiteers who exploited and fuelled the situation to sell equipment and services to assist with the crossing".

With regard to Morocco's role in the crisis, the President of the Government of Spain emphasised that "to date" no domestic or foreign body or institution has provided the Government of Spain with solid evidence that Morocco planned or carried out the incident. However, he stated that "all the relevant state authorities are investigating the matter" and that, "if such solid evidence were to exist, we would act accordingly with the utmost firmness, as the situation demands".

In this regard, President Sánchez announced that he has given instructions for a dossier to be published containing all the available reports on the mass influx into Ceuta, so they can be examined by the media and the public.

The Government's response to the crisis

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, the First Vice-President and Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, the Second Vice-President and Minister for Labour, Yolanda Díaz, and other members of the socialist group, during the session | Pool Moncloa/ Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The President of the Government of Spain explained that the Government is making progress on "five fronts" to resolve the crisis in the autonomous city. The first involves strengthening the border, with measures such as requesting that EUROPOL carry out a specific mission to monitor irregular migration in Ceuta, "so that this European border receives the support it deserves".

The second priority area involves expanding the State's capacity to deal with extraordinary migration events by strengthening temporary reception facilities, amongst other initiatives. The third priority is to strengthen the economy and public services of the autonomous city. Pedro Sánchez pointed out that the Government is working with local authorities to strengthen the Comprehensive Plan for the Socio-Economic Development of the City of Ceuta, which was approved in 2022 with an extraordinary increase in funding of 100 million euros. Added to this is the package approved by the Council of Ministers on 1 September: "An extraordinary initial investment of 309 million euros, to be rolled out by 31 December, which, in terms of aid and investment, amounts to no less than 16% of Ceuta's gross domestic product".

As a fourth priority, the head of the Executive proposed strengthening Europe's presence in Ceuta and Melilla, arguing that, when Spain joined the current European Union in 1986, "we lacked ambition". To this end, he proposed moving forward with the integration of both cities into the Customs Union and asking Brussels to recognise them as outermost regions.

The fifth priority is to uphold and strengthen migration policy in the face of criminal gangs and human trafficking networks, whilst improving regular migration channels and cooperation with countries of origin through initiatives such as the Africa Plan.

Finally, Pedro Sánchez addressed the people of Ceuta directly, expressing his understanding of the "fear and anguish" experienced during the crisis and acknowledging the solidarity they showed towards the most vulnerable migrants. The president also acknowledged that the response from the public authorities "has not been sufficient" and expressed regret that it will not be so until Ceuta returns to normality.

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during his speech in the Lower House of Parliament | Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la Bellacasa

The president assured the people of Ceuta that "every effort is being made" and that Spain will not forget them, as, he asserted, "the Government will never relinquish Spanish sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla".

Pedro Sánchez also announced that, as a sign of support and solidarity with Ceuta, the Government "has recognised the need for the Head of State to visit Ceuta and Melilla in the coming weeks and to convey the State's unwavering commitment to these two autonomous cities".

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