Embattled Spanish PM insists there were no prior warnings before Ceuta crisis

ByPaul Kirby Europe digital editor.

Key points

• As he explained the "complexity" of what had happened on 30 and 31 July, he addressed the "difficult times" faced by the residents of Ceuta.
• Although senior authorities insist it does not point the finger at Rabat, a Spanish police report has highlighted the "total permissiveness" of Moroccan security forces.
• Spain's handling of the migrant influx angered some of its European partners, and Italy responded by imposing border restrictions on arrivals from Spain.
• "Ceuta is not the border of Spain, it is Spain on the border, " Sánchez informed parliament.
• Sánchez additionally maintained there was no evidence Morocco was behind the mass crossing and there had been "close co-ordination" between the two countries.

As pressure mounts over his handling of the crisis, spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has remarked no-one foresaw the influx of 72, 000 migrants in the exclave of Ceuta.

"It's absurd to think that the government knew and did nothing, " Sánchez informed Spain's parliament on Thursday, hours after tens of thousands of residents joined protests nationwide backed by opposition parties.

Although most of the migrants have been sent back to Morocco, some 5, 000 remain on the streets and beaches of Ceuta, on the North African coast, including as plenty of as 1, 400 children.

After a Spanish court ruling that plenty of migrants misunderstood to mean they would not be pushed back if they swam throughout, there have been a number of reports that Spanish office-holders had been cautioned of a rise in sea arrivals over the border at Ceuta.

Sánchez has been careful until now not to criticise Morocco, but he complained of "unacceptable" statements by two Moroccan ministers regarding Ceuta and its fellow Spanish exclave of Melilla. The two cities have the EU's only land borders in North Africa. Protests in Spain against government's handling of Ceuta migrant crisis. Sexual assaults happening almost every day in Ceuta, prosecutors say.

He praised the response of Ceuta police who had chosen to "defend human life" when the influx took place, rather than defend the border. He additionally highlighted close co-operation with Moroccan authorities over the return of more than 90% of the migrants in the after 72 hours.

He spoke of an "episode in which numerous actors and interests converge", doubling down on his assertion that hoaxes and rumours spread by social media had sparked the crisis.

He has already blamed trafficking gangs and angered Russia and Israel for highlighting social media linked to both countries along with "an international far-right movement". He informed MPs that there was no evidence of state actors being involved but doubled down on his allegations of accounts linked to the two countries.

Ceuta was "a humanitarian crisis and also an administrative challenge within the city itself", he continued.

In short, embattled Spanish PM insists there were no prior warnings before Ceuta crisis is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.