Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has denied accusations that the government ignored warnings about an impending mass border crossing from Morocco to the enclave of Ceuta .
In an address to parliament on Thursday, Sánchez said that there had been no “alerts or special notices” prior to July 30-31, when an estimated 60,000 people entered Ceuta.
“We have examined all of the messages, statements and verbal reports from the state security apparatus,” he said.
“I can assure you that none of them went any further than a description of the data or routine reporting, and that absolutely none of them predicted the probability or the scale of what ended up occurring.”
Thousands of migrants went to Ceuta seeking better lives. These families are still waiting for the proof-of-life call
Sánchez defended his government’s handling of the crisis, and promised to publish a dossier of official reports to make all of the information that was available to the government public.
“The government has nothing to hide on this matter,” he said.
Although most of the migrants have since crossed back over the border to Morocco, the incident has become a significant political issue for Sánchez and his government both at home and abroad.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
