Sanchez tells Spain’s congress his government ‘has nothing to hide’ over Ceuta crisis response

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced that the government will publish all reports related to the Ceuta crisis, in an attempt to clarify what happened and what information the executive had at the time. "The Government has nothing to hide in this matter and I have ordered the publication of a dossier with all the documents so that the public can examine them. Absolute transparency and public access to all documents," he told Congress. Sánchez has defended the actions of law enforcement during the Ceuta crisis while pointing to social media as a driver of the mass arrival of illegal immigrants this summer. Sanchez told Congress that messages encouraging people to cross into Spain "filled" platforms in the run-up to July's events. Addressing lawmakers, Sánchez said he would set out "what we know to this day, with absolute transparency" about the events that led to the crisis. He said July had seen a marked rise in the number of migrants entering the country by sea, coinciding with the surge in online messaging. Of the officers who responded, Sánchez said: "Our officers had to make decisions in a matter of minutes. They chose to defend human life. We are very proud of that decision." The prime minister went on to defend the wider government response, telling Congress that the situation had been brought under control within days. "We reinforced the borders and prevented further entries. 72 hours later, more than 90% had returned," he said. He described the operation as "one of the fastest return processes in European history" and said the European Commission had recognised this.

Sanchez: You can't treat migrants like 'a sack of dirt'

Sánchez pushed back against suggestions that Spain should have acted more forcefully to remove migrants, stressing the government's legal obligations. "Spain is a democracy. You can't grab a human being by the arm and throw them across the border like a sack of dirt," he told Congress. "There are laws and treaties that we are obligated to uphold," he added. On the question of why the crisis was not foreseen, Sánchez was blunt: "No intelligence service anticipated the mass crossing." He linked the government's response to a Supreme Court ruling on July 8, explaining that several measures were adopted in its wake. "We increased maritime surveillance. We held meetings with Moroccan authorities to address the situation. This is what we did: react to the change," he said. The prime minister acknowledged that significant questions remain unanswered about how the crisis unfolded. "What is happening in Ceuta is much more complex and multifaceted," he told Congress. Sánchez, is appearing in the Congress of Deputies, at his own request, to report on the government's handling of the events in Ceuta and on the current situation in the autonomous city. His appearance comes amid strong criticism of the Socialist government over its response to the migration crisis triggered after thousands of people entered from Morocco at the end of July. The situation has also sparked an intense political debate over border control, the reception of migrants and Morocco's role in the crisis. The opposition has demanded that the government explain the decisions taken since the start of the emergency and outline the measures planned to manage its consequences. The address follows a day of massive demonstrations in support of Ceuta's residents in numerous parts of Spain, with particular support in the autonomous city itself, Madrid and Seville. In Madrid, the Government Delegation estimated the attendance at more than 50,000 people, while the City Council raised the figure to 150,000. Although the demonstrations were mostly peaceful, the night ended with disturbances in the vicinity of the Congress of Deputies. This story is being updated by our journalists. Please refresh for the latest version.