Spain’s PM denies government ignored warnings before Ceuta migrant crisis

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has denied his government ignored warnings before an estimated 72,000 people crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

Speaking in parliament on Thursday, he said authorities received no “alerts or special notices” ahead of the mass crossings on 30 and 31 July, CNN reported.

“I can assure you that none of them went any further than a description of the data or routine reporting, and that absolutely none of them predicted the probability or the scale of what ended up occurring,” Sanchez said.

Dozens of people died during the crisis, while an estimated 10,000 migrants remain in Ceuta. The incident has triggered protests across Spain and increased political pressure on the prime minister.

He also rejected suggestions that Morocco deliberately caused the crisis, saying no definitive evidence had been presented.

Sanchez said Spain would seek a permanent presence from EU border agency Frontex in Ceuta and Melilla, alongside a special Europol mission to monitor irregular migration.

“We are going to ask that a permanent Frontex presence be established,” he said.

He acknowledged, however, that border crossings could never be completely prevented.

“We aren’t going to guarantee that these borders are 100% secure, because behind them lie inequality and a search for opportunity, and no matter how high that border (wall) is, this is always going to be the case,” he said.