Marlaska faces resignation calls over Morocco linked Ceuta migration report

The secretary-general of Spain’s Popular Party (PP), Miguel Tellado, on Wednesday criticized Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska for claiming to be «surprised» by a National Police report on the migration surge in Ceuta. Tellado said the minister should resign over his «shamelessness, incompetence and lies.»

Marlaska had asked National Police Director General Francisco Pardo to verify «as soon as possible» the contents of the report, which was disclosed by Spanish media and attributes responsibility for the mass entry into Ceuta on July 30 and 31 to Moroccan security services.

«Today, Marlaska is pretending to be surprised by a police report that had warned of an invasion of Ceuta. He denied it for a month, and now he has been exposed,» Tellado wrote on X, according to Europa Press.

He said the minister «cannot remain for another minute» at the head of Spain’s security forces, adding: «Marlaska must resign for his shamelessness, incompetence and lies.»

In a similar vein, Esther Muñoz, spokesperson for the PP’s parliamentary group in Congress, described the report’s findings as «extremely serious.» She accused the government of being «subservient» to Morocco and called on Marlaska to step down, arguing that if the police had «embarrassed» him and exposed his failings, he should resign.

Disagreement within the governing coalition

For his part, Antonio Maíllo, federal coordinator of Spain’s United Left (IU), which is part of the governing coalition, said Marlaska should resign if he was aware of the security report linking Morocco to the mass entry of migrants into Ceuta at the end of July.

He added that if the report never reached the interior minister, then the National Police director general should be the one to resign for «betraying» the government.

Spain’s police union also called for the resignations of Marlaska, Pardo and the government delegate in Ceuta, Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano. The union said it had publicly warned on July 28, two days before what it describes as the «invasion,» that «the situation in Ceuta had become unsustainable.»

The union described the events as taking place in a context of «hybrid warfare,» recalling that Morocco does not recognize Spanish sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla.

Against this backdrop, National Police Director General Francisco Pardo held a meeting on Wednesday morning with the commissioner general for immigration and borders, whose department produced the report submitted to Spain’s National Court. The commissioner general for intelligence also attended the meeting.