Spanish minister weighs in on Ceuta crisis: Morocco «held the key to the door»

Spanish Health Minister Mónica García has weighed in on the controversy over Morocco’s responsibility for the mass crossing of migrants into Ceuta on July 30 and 31, assigning part of the blame to Rabat. She said the kingdom «had the key to the door: either it opened it or it left it open.»

In an interview with Onda Cero radio, García said responsibility for protecting the borders is shared, but that Morocco bears clear responsibility, regardless of the outcome of any investigation into its direct or indirect involvement in the events.

She added that the crisis had exposed the failure of the European model based on outsourcing border control to other countries. She also criticized Spain’s National Intelligence Centre for failing to anticipate the scale of the mass crossings, noting that it had merely sent a warning via WhatsApp to the chief of staff of the government delegate in Ceuta.

García said that if what happened amounted to a violation of territorial integrity, the warning should have been escalated to the minister or to higher-ranking officials through the chain of command, holding both Spain and Morocco responsible for the lack of foresight.

Morocco’s Foreign Ministry had earlier criticized, in a statement, accusations that Morocco was behind the wave of mass crossings into Ceuta, questioning why such allegations continue to be made in the absence of any data, facts, or reports proving the involvement of Moroccan authorities.