Spanish security officials «refuse to sign» report clearing Morocco over Ceuta events

Spain’s Commissioner General for Immigration and Borders, Julián Ávila, and several officials under his authority refused to sign a police report that would have ruled out Moroccan involvement in the mass crossings into Ceuta and stated that there had been no prior warning of the scale of the influx on July 30 and 31, according to security sources cited by Spanish newspaper ABC.

According to the same sources, the refusal came «during a tense meeting between the security officials overseeing the investigations and the director general of the police, Francisco Pardo Piqueras», following requests for information from Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.

On September 1, Spanish newspaper El Español revealed the main conclusions of a report prepared by the National Centre for Immigration and Borders, which is part of the National Police, concerning the mass crossings into Ceuta. According to the newspaper, intelligence officials had submitted to the investigating judge a document focusing in particular on what it described as «the cooperation of members of the Moroccan gendarmerie in directing the migrants who took part in the mass influx toward the city».

The disclosure prompted Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska to send a letter to Police Director General Francisco Pardo, asking him to inform him «as soon as possible of the contents of the report».

That same morning, Pardo convened a meeting with Director General of Operations José Luis Santafé, Commissioner General for Immigration and Borders Julián Ávila and Commissioner General for Intelligence Javier Antonio Susín. Pardo later denied the existence of any police report attributing the planning of the Ceuta events to Moroccan security forces.

Security sources cited by ABC, however, said that ruling out any Moroccan connection to the mass crossings «is premature, as the investigations are still in their early stages». The same sources nevertheless acknowledged that proving that Moroccan authorities were behind the operation would be extremely difficult.

Following the disclosure of the report, Spain’s Interior Ministry clarified that the National Centre for Immigration and Borders «is not an investigative unit with the organizational status of the judicial police» and «does not have personnel deployed in Morocco, and it is not customary for it to carry out activities commissioned by the public prosecutor’s office or the judiciary».