On Monday, Rabat denied allegations from Madrid, which claimed Morocco encouraged a massive surge of migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Moroccan officials asserted that the root of the crisis lay in a Spanish court ruling that inadvertently undermined measures designed to deter irregular migration.
A senior Moroccan figure highlighted that Spanish authorities should have foreseen the repercussions of a judicial decision issued on July 8. This ruling placed restrictions on the swift repatriation to Morocco of migrants who arrived in Ceuta by sea.
According to statements from Rabat, this judicial development was quickly exploited by human trafficking networks. They disseminated information suggesting that migrants would now receive protection upon entering Spanish territory. « Europe expects us to halt crossings, yet simultaneously, a ‘red carpet’ is rolled out once these crossings occur », a Moroccan official remarked.
Previously, Juan Jesús Vivas, the President of the Ceuta enclave, had directly accused Morocco of both « encouraging and permitting » the significant wave of migrants. Meanwhile, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, issued a caution against any attempts to leverage irregular migration as a means of exerting pressure on an EU member state.
For its part, Morocco firmly stated that it had neither relaxed its border controls nor scaled back its security apparatus prior to the large-scale crossings observed last Thursday. Rabat emphasized its deployment of approximately 24,000 security personnel along its northern coastline, specifically dedicated to combating clandestine immigration.
Moroccan authorities reported thwarting 79,000 attempted crossings in 2024 and an additional 74,000 since the beginning of 2026. They maintained that cooperation with Spain on migration control had been « exemplary » right up until the contentious July judicial decision.
Ultimately, Rabat urged Madrid to reinstate an effective deterrent mechanism. Concurrently, Moroccan officials reiterated that their nation « will never become complicit in an approach to migration that is exclusively focused on security ».
