Spain’s government is under pressure after declassified documents showed that the CNI warned of a possible mass entry into Ceuta but sent the alert via WhatsApp* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ)* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ) to a junior official, rather than through formal channels. The disclosure has revived criticism that authorities missed early signs of the border surge, when 72,000 people crossed in two days. Official statements say the CNI sent the warning as a message and made a brief call on July 29, but did not issue a formal alert to ministers or the prime minister. Pedro Sánchez repeated this point in his public address on September 3.
The dispute is over how the warning was handled. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said there was "no report" from the CNI predicting the crisis. Defence Minister Margarita Robles, by contrast, said the intelligence service did issue a warning. The Ceuta government delegation publicly sided with Marlaska, saying it never received a formal report or high-level alert. The disagreement reflects a wider split: the Defence Ministry insists a warning was given, while the Interior Ministry and Moncloa deny it.
EFE reported that at 13:52 on July 29, the CNI sent a WhatsApp* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ)* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ) message to the Ceuta government delegation warning of calls to storm the border the next day. Later that day, it sent a separate information note to Moroccan and Spanish authorities about possible entry attempts.
The declassified files confirm that on July 29 the CNI sent a WhatsApp* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ)* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ) message to the chief of staff for the Ceuta government delegate. It noted that social media groups were circulating calls for an irregular entry during the week of the Fiesta del Trono. The message mentioned 180,000 group members but did not specify how likely or large the threat was. No written report was filed, and the information was not passed to ministers or the prime minister. The CNI later said it could not predict the scale or nature of the mass crossing and that its note was based on activity seen in WhatsApp* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ)* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ) and social media groups.
Moncloa now argues that the alert was too minor to require a full response. Government sources say a real threat would have been communicated formally and up the chain of command. "No formal communication was sent to the executive, nor were there calls or meeting requests," Moncloa said, adding that serious warnings are never delivered by instant messaging alone. The Ceuta government delegation supports this view, saying it did not receive a formal report or high-level warning, in line with the Interior Ministry’s position.
As the story gained attention, the government released a CNI statement. The agency said it had flagged social media activity but did not foresee the scale or nature of the mass crossing. It also said it had not made any public assessment of the declassified material and would maintain its duty of secrecy. Cadena SER reported that Sánchez stated on September 3 that, in the month leading up to the border crossing, the CNI had prepared two situational reports shared with several institutions. Both described a known increase in crossings and recommended 'extreme caution.' The government has indicated that it is willing to declassify further materials if needed to clarify the timeline and official response.
Sánchez addressed the issue directly, posting on social media that the CNI had informed the Ceuta delegation and Guardia Civil about the social media campaign, but that this did not show the scale of what was coming. He said such social media alerts are routine and rarely signal a crisis of this size. BBC reporting says the CNI also notified Moroccan authorities and local Spanish agencies about the online calls for mass entry. The agency again stressed that it could not predict what happened next.
Despite these explanations, opposition parties accused Sánchez and his cabinet of deception and negligence. They argue the government was warned and failed to act, blaming it for the mass entry and the thousands who remain in Ceuta. The government maintains that the CNI’s WhatsApp* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ)* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ) message was not a formal alert and did not require escalation.
Moncloa’s position is that the CNI’s message was one of many routine notifications about online activity, not a warning of imminent mass migration. The fact that the message was not even passed to the government delegate, or elevated within the CNI, is cited as proof it was not seen as urgent. Officials say that if a real risk had been detected, the information would have reached the highest levels of government.
The controversy has exposed divisions within the executive, with Robles and Marlaska publicly disagreeing and the Ceuta delegation contradicting the Defence Ministry. The release of the declassified files, intended to support the government’s version, instead brought more scrutiny and forced Sánchez to address the issue himself. As reported earlier, releasing secret documents was intended to silence critics but has only deepened the crisis.
The episode shows the challenges Spain faces when intelligence warnings are unclear and political rivalries are strong. The government’s effort to play down the CNI’s WhatsApp* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ)* (принадлежит Metа, которая признана экстремистской организацией и запрещена в РФ) alert as routine, while asking the intelligence agency and the prime minister to explain it, points to a leadership struggling to control the story.
