Sánchez: No Solid Proof Morocco Staged Ceuta Surge

Sánchez: No Solid Proof Morocco Staged Ceuta Surge

The News

What Sánchez said

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Thursday there is no "solid proof" that Morocco orchestrated July's mass migrant rush into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, France 24 reported.

Reuters and the Jerusalem Post reported the same line: Spain has seen no evidence to conclude the deadly border surge was orchestrated or carried out by Moroccan authorities.

Sánchez also denied that his government was warned in advance. He told parliament it is absurd to suggest the government knew and did nothing, the BBC reported. CNN reported him saying he received no advance warnings of the influx as he defended his handling of the crisis.

Reactions

The street

Tens of thousands of people have protested across Spanish cities over the government's handling of Ceuta, the BBC reported. The Washington Times reported large demonstrations tied to Ceuta's Sept. 2 annual holiday, normally a date the mainland ignores.

Spanish opposition parties accuse Sánchez of abandoning the residents of Ceuta, according to the BBC. Right-leaning US outlets covering the protests, including Conservative Treehouse and Power Line, have framed the crossing as an organized invasion — a characterization the Spanish government rejects and the police report does not make.

More

The report he is answering

The denial lands days after a Spanish National Police report, seen by Agence France-Presse, found that Moroccan security forces displayed "total permissiveness" during the crossing, France 24 reported.

France 24 noted the gap plainly: Sánchez says there is no solid proof of orchestration despite a police report highlighting multiple failings by Moroccan security forces. Those are two different claims — permissiveness is not the same as a plan — and the prime minister is leaning hard on the distinction.

The wider toll

The Ceuta fight is one front in a migration crisis that is killing people on the Atlantic route as well. The Frank reported Wednesday that 80 people died on a migrant boat off the Canary Islands.

What we don't know

The full National Police report has not been published; the reporting rests on a copy seen by AFP. Spain has not said whether it will make findings public, and Morocco's government response is not reflected in the wire coverage.

Sources: France 24, Reuters, BBC News, CNN, Jerusalem Post, The Washington Times.

Charleston White Arrested Again on Florida Battery Charge

Border Patrol Rescues MS NOW Crew in Desert

Supreme Court Restores Missouri's Old House Map

Alaska Drops Felony Voter Charges Against Samoans

Trespasser Breaches Harris' Malibu Estate; No Arrest

Hegseth Pressed Downed Airmen Into 60 Minutes

Houthis Seize Mokha, Choking Saudi Oil Exports

Altman Rules Out OpenAI IPO This Year

Jury Acquits Lil Durk in Murder-for-Hire Case

Judge: Trump Broke Law Halving FEMA Staff

Maher Calls Democrats' Gaza Genocide Claim a Lie

Blizzard Revives StarCraft, Sends Diablo to Netflix

Trump's Queens Childhood Home Sells for $1.93M

Scientists Find New Virus in Tick Invading US

Britain Bans Settlement Imports; US States Threaten Payback

Prison Fire Kills 7 as Kurds Protest Killing

Kosovo Rallies for Ex-President Before Hague Verdict

Cruz Booed at GameDay Over College Sports Bill

Blast Hits Bulgarian Arms Plant Supplying Ukraine

DOJ Loses Nearly Every Protester Assault Trial