A Moroccan man with a terrorism conviction and a ban on entering Spain has been detained in Ceuta and expelled to Morocco. Guardia Civil officers arrested him on Tuesday in the Sidi Embarek area after confirming his status. EFE, in a report carried by Infobae, said police databases confirmed he was barred from entering Spain. Officers then transferred him for deportation. The case is among several arrests in the autonomous city involving migrants with terrorism-related convictions.
Policía Nacional officers carried out the expulsion after receiving a police notification. The Guardia Civil confirmed to RTVE that the man had previously been convicted of a terrorism offence. Authorities believe he may have entered Spain during the mass arrival on 30 and 31 July.
Morocco also reinforced controls around the Fnideq and Bab Sebta border area, adding personnel and road checks as Spain prepared for possible new attempts to cross into Ceuta.
The arrest came as Spain prepared for possible new attempts to cross the border. Since Tuesday, Spain has reinforced security arrangements in Ceuta and Melilla in response to a call circulated on social networks for Wednesday 23 September, which coincides with Morocco's parliamentary elections. Regional reports said both sides were stepping up preventive measures.
In Ceuta, the Policía Nacional has added 75 officers from the Unidad de Intervención Policial. The Guardia Civil is also expanding the work of the three Grupo de Reserva y Seguridad platoons already deployed in the city.
The additional Guardia Civil deployment includes 120 agents at night and another 90 during the day. Interior is also doubling the aerial resources assigned to the city. The surveillance operation now includes two drones and a helicopter along the border. El País and Ara reported the deployment figures. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska publicly confirmed the preventive reinforcement of Ceuta and Melilla.
The Spanish government said the reinforcement was preventive and coordinated with Morocco and the European Union. Authorities reported no signs that the border was at imminent risk of losing control, but expanded surveillance in response to the social-media call for a possible mass crossing. Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the Spanish interior minister, was identified as the source of these remarks.
This is not the first arrest of its kind in the current operation. On 11 September, the Guardia Civil detained another Moroccan national convicted of jihadist terrorism and barred from entering Spain.
Investigators said officers made that arrest at one of the controls set up after the mass arrival at the end of July. They verified the man's identity, and police databases linked him to an operation in Catalonia in 2015. He had been convicted and was subject to a final sentence banning him from entering Spanish territory, as detailed in this earlier report on security operations in Spain.
The two cases show how the July arrivals continue to shape policing in Ceuta. Officers are checking whether people intercepted in the city face judicial or police restrictions. EFE and Infobae described the 11 September detention as part of the same effort to identify people with security-related records among those who arrived during the late-July influx.
The latest detainee was not removed solely on the basis of an administrative check. The reported action followed confirmation of a terrorism conviction and an existing entry ban. The reports do not specify when he crossed the border or say that he committed another offence in Ceuta.
The reinforced deployment is intended to detect possible new attempts and identify people who cannot legally enter Spain. Arrests and expulsions are accompanied by additional ground units and expanded aerial surveillance, with Ceuta serving as both an immigration-control point and a security screening zone.
