The prime minister said "all Spain" supports residents of Ceuta and blamed the rise in irregular arrivals on a smuggling networks "misreading" of a court ruling and vowed to bolster security.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez sent a message of support to the people of Ceuta in the wake of the migration crisis, saying that "the whole of Spain stands with them" and acknowledging the "anguish" the population is going through. "We understand the emotional strain the people of Ceuta are under," he said.
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Sánchez described what had happened as a "violation of Spain's territorial integrity", an action which, he said, "deserves our reproach and our condemnation at the strongest possible level".
The prime minister also recalled that Melilla had experienced a similar in 2021, and stressed that both autonomous territories require the government's utmost attention.
In this context, he gave assurances that the government will mobilise all the resources needed to preserve security in Ceuta. "The Spanish government will deploy all the resources of the state to guarantee security in Ceuta," he said.
As for the origins of the crisis, Sánchez argued that, according to the talks held with the Moroccan authorities, the increase in irregular entries is due to "a self-interested reading by criminal gangs" of a court ruling on the repatriation of people who enter by swimming, as they consider there is no physical border in such cases.
Finally, the prime minister defended the government's migration policy and pointed out that Spain has managed to steadily reduce irregular migration flows. "We have seen a systematic reduction of more than 30% in irregular arrivals," he concluded.