Albares warns Morocco that claims over Ceuta and Melilla “degrade the bilateral relationship”

Eduardo González Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stated on Tuesday that the Spanish and Moroccan governments “have not spoken and will never speak” about Spanish “territorial integrity” and warned that Moroccan claims over Ceuta and Melilla “degrade the bilateral relationship.” In statements to La Hora de la 1, Albares described as “absolutely unacceptable” the declarations by several Moroccan ministers claiming sovereignty over the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and reiterated that the Government has reacted “firmly” by summoning the Moroccan ambassador in Madrid, Karima Benyaich, on August 21, as announced last week by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, in Congress (although ultimately the chargé d'affaires was summoned because the ambassador was out of Spain). These Moroccan claims, Albares warned, “degrade our bilateral relationship,” because the Government will not “tolerate any doubt about our territorial integrity, which, moreover, is internationally recognized.” “The most important thing,” he added, “is the daily will of all the people of Ceuta and Melilla.” “Ceuta and Melilla are Spain, and we have not spoken, nor will we ever speak, with Morocco about our territorial integrity,” he asserted. On the other hand, the Spanish Foreign Minister admitted that the Moroccan statements were made in an “electoral context, where various ministers speak not as ministers but as representatives of political forces,” but warned that this circumstance does not serve as an “explanation.” Regarding the two-day visit he will begin this Tuesday to Brussels to discuss Ceuta and Melilla, the minister clarified that his objective is to prevent a repeat of the migrant influx at the end of August, to analyze how to “strengthen” the border security measures in Ceuta and Melilla, to boost economic activity, and to address the “integration” of the two autonomous cities into the EU. According to Albares, if it is not possible to obtain the status of outermost regions for Ceuta and Melilla due to their specific characteristics, they will at least try to find a “similar status” for both. “To be an outermost region per se, a series of requirements are needed, which are more or less clearly defined,” but “what matters to me right now is the substance rather than the designation,” he declared. “Ceuta and Melilla have a very specific geographical position, as do the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, and other territories, for example, French territories, and therefore they also need a financial, economic, and commercial framework, and that is what I am going to explore,” he added. The minister will meet with the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner; the European Commissioner for Trade, Maroš Šefčovič; the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica; and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas. He will also meet with representatives of the European Committee of the Regions. These meetings, according to the Ministry, will allow for “officially proposing the strengthening of Ceuta and Melilla’s participation in European institutions,” analyzing “the fuller integration of both cities into the European project,” and addressing the management of the European Union’s external border. Albares’s presence in Brussels will coincide with the trip to the EU capital by the President of the Autonomous City of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, to discuss with Magnus Brunner and Dubravka Šuica the city’s main challenges following the mass influx of nearly 80,000 migrants at the end of July. Feijóo threatens to invoke article 8 On Tuesday, the president of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, warned that if he ever comes to power and receives intelligence reports about a possible invasion plan, he would invoke Article 8 of the Constitution to "secure the borders," because "that's what it's for." "Article 8 of the Constitution states that it is the responsibility of the Armed Forces—the Army, Air Force, and Navy—to guarantee the territorial integrity of our country," he reminded listeners. In statements made on Antena 3's "Espejo Público" program, Feijóo asserted that Ceuta is not experiencing a mere migration crisis, but rather "a clear crisis of security and territorial integrity, of public order, of public health, and of the economy." "I have never seen a crisis managed worse than that of Ceuta, nor a president with such a lack of rigor," denounced the PP leader, who affirmed that, if he were to govern, his relationship with Morocco would be based on mutual "loyalty" and "reciprocity" in the management of [the situation]. the border. “We have to help Morocco manage immigration,” he added. National Court and the declassification of reports Furthermore, Judge María Tardón has declared the National Court competent to investigate the irregular mass entry into Ceuta from Morocco on July 30 and 31, considering it to be “a criminal act allegedly committed abroad that has seriously undermined the territorial integrity of Spain, guaranteed by Article 2 of the Constitution, by using the mass entry into our country, which has been compounded by irregular migration flows that have severely affected the lives and rights of the citizens of Ceuta.” In her ruling accepting jurisdiction, which includes a report from the Public Prosecutor's Office supporting the investigation, the investigating judge cites the report from the National Center for Immigration and Borders (CENIF) on the unfolding of events. This report demonstrates that these were not incidental, occasional, or spontaneous actions, but rather a process in which the migratory purpose served only as a formal cover. The report also indicates that in the period leading up to the mass entry on July 30, a sustained and escalating situation developed at the border crossings into Ceuta, while highlighting the crucial role of social media in the widespread dissemination of the call to action. “The convergence of these factors was detected by the Police Unit that prepared the report on the events described here, the National Center for Immigration and Borders (CENIF), which, on July 29, 2026, issued an initial Mass Entry Risk Alert for dissemination to the Ceuta and Melilla Border Posts through the CGEF National Border Post Coordination Center (CEFRONT). This alert indicated the anticipated extreme risk of a scenario involving coordinated swimming and fence-jumping,” the judge explains. On Tuesday, the Council of Ministers approved the declassification of information from the National Intelligence Center and the Armed Forces Intelligence Center regarding the mass entry of foreigners into the city of Ceuta. This information will be available to the public starting Wednesday. Pedro Sánchez announced in Congress his intention to publish all police and military reports and warnings handled by the government in the days leading up to and following the crisis. His objective, he asserted, is to demonstrate that the government had not been warned in advance of the influx of migrants on July 30 and 31.

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