Spain rejected offers of operational and legal assistance from the European Union during a mass migrant surge into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta while privately asking Brussels for €62.1 million in emergency funding, according to an internal EU document seen by TVP World. On July 30 and 31, around 70,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, whose population is about 83,000. An estimated 100 people died during the crossing, while hundreds more required medical treatment. The vast majority of those who entered have since been returned to Morocco. Publicly, European officials and the Spanish government sought to present a united front. But behind the scenes, Madrid was turning down EU assistance while seeking millions of euros from Brussels to help deal with the crisis. Cheque please The document reveals that despite opting to not accept operational help from Brussels, the Spanish government has privately asked for €62.1 million in emergency EU cash to help pay for its response to the crisis. EU officials told TVP World that no funds have been sent to Spain yet as a final sum has not been agreed. Despite the informal request, Spain has yet to submit formal paperwork for the funds and the Commission still needs to complete an assessment of Madrid’s demands. As part of this, a technical mission from the Commission’s Directorate General for Migration travelled to Ceuta on August 12 and 13 to "get a first-hand assessment of the situation on the ground that could inform additional funding" according to the briefing document. EU officials expect Madrid’s final request to exceed the initial €62.1 million. Boots (n)on the ground The document also makes clear that the Spanish government has to-date not requested any additional assistance from the European Union’s border agencies to help deal with the crisis in Ceuta. Frontex, the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) and Europol have all offered assistance to Madrid. Frontex, the EU’s border agency, could have put boots on the ground, including “return specialists”. Europol also offered assistance and could deploy staff “on the spot” to support Spain’s investigations. The agency currently has 21 staff members in the exclave though they were not involved in responding to the crisis. The EUAA meanwhile, made assistance available to support with the processing of asylum claims. Madrid chose not to make use of these resources. Spanish officials have consistently maintained that the country’s law enforcement agencies, in coordination with Morocco, were perfectly capable of handling the crisis. Missed information The Spanish government, Morocco and the European Commission have all identified misinformation campaigns spreading on social media as the key factor behind the Ceuta crisis. Migrants, spurred on by false claims of suspended border checks and open asylum in the exclave, rushed the fences. Faced with online campaigns encouraging mass border runs, Spain’s Digital Services Coordinator explicitly decided against activating Article 36—the EU Digital Services Act’s formal emergency mechanism that would legally compel platforms like Meta and TikTok to alter algorithms and suppress content likely to fuel the crisis. While Madrid preferred to stick standard regulatory channels over an emergency escalation, the EU decided to establish its own anti-disinformation apparatus in response to the crisis, linking fact-checking groups and social media platforms to help quell any further disinformation-fuelled flare ups. Declined legal aid In the midst of the crisis, Spain’s Public Prosecutor also U-turned on a decision to receive EU support assistance regarding legal representation, guardianship, and training on the new EU Migration Pact for unaccompanied minors. The decision came as Ceuta’s President warned that the exclave’s space for handling unaccompanied minors was 2600% over its critical capacity. Spain now plans to transfer 500 unaccompanied minor girls who crossed into Ceuta illegally to the Spanish mainland for specialist care and to process their claims, despite pushback from Brussels and the Spanish regions expected to host the girls. Threats to the “pillars that support the EU” The crisis in Ceuta, and Spain’s immigration policies was rapidly seized upon by European leaders as a potential threat to the continent’s security. As the migrant surge unfolded, 22 European leaders signed a letter in which they said “we have a duty to effectively deter and relentlessly combat illegal migration”. This, the letter said, includes “addressing all policies that can serve as pull factors, such as the regularization of a very large number of irregular migrants.” Spanish officials described the response as “irresponsible”, “partisan” and a threat to “the pillars that support the European Union”. Despite the political tensions, Europol intelligence logs contain a potentially reassuring finding: the agency has confirmed there are currently no indications of jihadist or terrorist infiltration among the migrants who entered Ceuta—a metric monitored closely since the onset of the influx. But while the crisis in Ceuta seems to now be under control, it has confirmed that Spain remains an outlier in Europe when it comes to migration policy - clashing with Brussels and its neighbours - and shows that Europe’s fierce debate on migration rages on.
