Spanish PM rules out Moroccan responsibility in migrant surge

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ruled out Moroccan government responsibility for the surge of more than 70,000 migrants into Ceuta on July 30-31, saying no intelligence service Spain works with found evidence of Moroccan involvement. He instead blamed disinformation spread by Russia, Israel and 'an ultra-right international,' tying it to his government's positions on Gaza and Ukraine.

Sánchez acknowledged that intelligence and police reports failed to gauge the scale of the coming crisis. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected the disinformation accusation as a lie meant to distract from Spain's handling of the crisis, while experts told AFP that social media disinformation about a Spanish court ruling did help fuel the initial surge.

The crisis prompted Italy to impose a month of border checks on travelers from Spain, met with reciprocal Spanish controls; both governments extended those checks by 15 days on Monday. Sánchez said 6,000 reception spaces would open in Ceuta and pledged an additional 168 million euros in aid, while thousands of migrants remain in the tiny territory awaiting status verification.

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