Spain's Ministry of the Interior has attacked a National Police unit over a report into the Ceuta border crisis that linked Moroccan agents to mass entries.
In a document distributed to the press, the department led by Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska stated that it was unusual for judges to order investigative reports from the National Centre for Immigration and Borders, known as Cenif.
The police findings follow events at the end of July 2026, when between 75,000 and 85,000 people entered the Spanish autonomous city from Morocco over a two-day period on July 30 and July 31.
Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city situated on the North African coast, sharing a land border with Morocco. The territory forms an outer border of the European Union, making it a key location for regional migration management and security relations between Madrid and Rabat.
Ministry questions police unit status
Interior officials stated that the officers assigned to Cenif do not possess the status of an investigative unit with the organic character of Judicial Police. They noted that such status is held by specialized units within the general commissariats of Information, Judicial Police, and Immigration and Borders.
The ministry added that Cenif is not an Information service, which represents the elite tier of Spanish law enforcement. It stressed that the unit has no officers deployed on the ground in Morocco or anywhere else, characterising its staff as office personnel whose external security ties are limited strictly to collaborative matters within their defined competencies.
In the Spanish law enforcement framework, Judicial Police units operate under direct judicial direction to collect evidence for court proceedings. In contrast, intelligence branches such as Cenif focus on administrative analysis, risk assessments, and border monitoring to support broader operational planning.
Findings on Moroccan involvement
While the National Police report does not identify any overall mastermind or directly accuse the Moroccan government, it details that Moroccan gendarmes and plainclothes agents from the kingdom permitted and assisted in the border crossings.
Despite those observations, the Interior Ministry maintained that the document does not establish definitive involvement or responsible authorship regarding the movement of people into Ceuta on July 30 and July 31.
The Audiencia Nacional is Spain's centralized high court with jurisdiction over major national cases, international crime, and significant security matters affecting the state.
Internal police communications
The publication of the report's conclusions triggered severe friction within the Interior Ministry. Overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, Grande-Marlaska sent a letter to Police Director General Francisco Pardo, demanding explanations as to why he was not informed of the document's contents.
The minister had not received prior notice because the investigating judge specifically instructed the police officers not to disclose their progress or findings to their department superiors.
Following the minister's demand, Francisco Pardo ordered his general commissioners to clarify what information had been submitted and at what time.
Javier Antonio Susin, the General Commissioner of Information, reported to Operational Deputy Director Jose Luis Santafe that the police force had not issued any report placing responsibility for the assault on a government, agency, or individual, stating that the intellectual authorship of the event remained unknown.
Official inventory and future investigations
Julian Avila, the General Commissioner of Immigration and Borders, specified that his department had only issued a Cenif report dated July 29 alongside subsequent risk assessments. That accounting omitted the document submitted directly by the National Police to the Audiencia Nacional from the official inventory recognized by Interior.
The formal response delivered by Santafe to Pardo covers the events of July 30 and July 31, 2026, relying on a temporal nuance. Police sources familiar with the matter indicated that while existing reports do not establish formal involvement to date, the wording leaves open the possibility that ongoing or future investigative work could establish responsibility later.
