Arab News | Spanish PM hails Morocco after fears of new Ceuta migrant rush

NEW YORK: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday praised Morocco for bolstering border security amid fresh calls for a migrant rush to Ceuta, a day after hardening his tone toward Rabat.

Spain’s north African territory has been embroiled in a humanitarian crisis since more than 70,000 migrants arrived from neighboring Morocco on July 30-31.

Most returned in the following hours, but thousands have remained for weeks in often deplorable conditions as the small city’s resources were overwhelmed, creating a political storm for Sanchez ahead of next year’s general election.

Having consistently avoided attributing the crisis to Rabat, with which Spain maintains delicate relations, Sanchez had told CNN on Tuesday that Morocco’s “border control failed” during July’s rush.

Authorities had detected fresh calls on social media for another rush to Ceuta and Spain’s other north African territory of Melilla, coinciding with Morocco’s parliamentary election.

But on Wednesday Sanchez told a press conference that “we saw a very large police deployment, at the Ceuta border as well as at the Melilla border” on Tuesday.

“We should acknowledge this too,” Sanchez said in New York, hitting back at the right-wing opposition that has accused Morocco of orchestrating the rush and blackmailing Spain.

Sanchez has said Morocco needs to provide “explanations and changes” to avoid a repeat of the influx but that no “solid proof” exists to blame Rabat, which claims sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla.

The Socialist premier’s trip to New York for the UN General Assembly also saw him meet another hero of the global left, the city’s mayor Zohran Mamdani.