The Ceuta crisis will dominate Wednesday's control session in Congress, as the opposition seeks answers from ministers who handled the security and political response. Margarita Robles and Fernando Grande-Marlaska will face the sharpest questioning. Their conflicting accounts of the warnings before the mass entry have turned the session into a test of the government's credibility.
Pedro Sánchez will not be in the chamber. The prime minister is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where he has for the first time held Morocco responsible for the arrival of more than 70,000 migrants on 30 and 31 July. José Manuel Albares is also in the United States. Nine other ministers have reported previously scheduled commitments.
Robles must answer four questions from the PP and Junts. Cuca Gamarra will ask whether she can be proud of her work. Sofía Acedo will question its value, while Agustín Conde will press her on whether she will tell the truth. Isidre Gavín i Valls of Junts will ask whether Spain can guarantee an effective response to the security crisis. The PP will also present an urgent interpellation on the Defence Ministry's handling of Ceuta, which could lead to a later motion.
The dispute centres on what the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia knew before the entry at the end of July. Robles said the CNI had done its job by passing information to the security forces and the Government Delegation. Marlaska said no report had predicted an operation on the scale that followed.
Declassified documents later showed that the CNI reported a social media call on 29 July for an assault by land and sea. The information went to the Government Delegation and the Guardia Civil. The centre said it had not provided officials with enough information to judge the scale or nature of what happened the next day. Once the material became public, Spanish authorities acknowledged that earlier claims the crisis was impossible to foresee were no longer entirely clear. Sánchez and the Foreign Ministry maintained that they had not understood the eventual scale in advance, while Robles later conceded that the response could have been better.
Robles is scheduled to appear before the official secrets committee on 6 October to explain the government's handling of Ceuta, information from reports citing the Congress agenda and parliamentary leadership. The closed process is separate from the public questioning in the chamber. No date has been set for a comparable appearance by CNI director Esperanza Casteleiro. Robles's appearance is intended to prevent the opposition from securing a hearing for Casteleiro or other senior officials.
Marlaska will return to the chamber about a week after Congress approved a reprimand against him over the crisis and asked Sánchez to dismiss him. After another visit to Ceuta on Monday, he said Morocco was cooperating exceptionally to help with returns. Miguel Tellado will ask whether the city is safe, while Ana Belén Vázquez will question the effectiveness of the border policy. Alberto Catalán of UPN will ask the minister directly why he does not resign.
Ángel Víctor Torres will also have to defend the government's coordination. He became single commander after the city was placed under a situation of interest for national security. The PP will question his role and the government's readiness to deal with Ceuta's problems, while Vox challenges the measures adopted. Torres has recently urged PP-led regions to accept part of the nearly 3,000 migrant minors.
Félix Bolaños will face questions from the PP and Vox about the limits of the government's conduct. Ana Redondo will face a separate PP challenge over whether women in Ceuta receive equal protection. During her visit on 7 September, the equality minister called for temporary safe spaces for migrants, especially women and girls. The PP has instead demanded guarantees for Ceuta's women and had already questioned whether they were safe in the city.
The pressure around the session follows a public clash over Sánchez's relationship with Ceuta's leadership, described in an earlier report. The debate brings operational responsibility and intelligence warnings into the same parliamentary fight as border policy and the distribution of minors.
The government is defending several fronts at once. Robles must explain the CNI's warning, while Marlaska faces questions after his reprimand. Torres must justify the command structure, and Redondo address the protection issue raised by the opposition. The documents confirm that information existed before the entry but do not establish its eventual scale. That distinction may limit the government's exposure over prediction, while leaving the opposition with a case about preparation and accountability.
Sánchez is absent, and four ministers are in the spotlight. The session will not settle the crisis; it will show whether the government can give one clear account of what happened in Ceuta.
