The Audiencia Nacional on 4 September 2026 pledged “full support” to the investigating judge María Tardón and reaffirmed the strict confidentiality of a police report on the migration situation in Ceuta Earlier, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska on 3 September 2026 had written to the president of the Consejo General del Poder Judicial to express his concern that the police had not been allowed to inform their superiors immediately. The leadership of the judiciary then urged the utmost respect for judicial decisions.
At the centre of the dispute is a document produced by the Comisaría General de Extranjería y Fronteras of the Policía Nacional at the investigating judge’s direction. According to concordant media reports from 2 to 4 September 2026, the report contains assessments of the mass arrival of people in Ceuta on 30 and 31 July 2026; the document was said in some accounts to suggest that external actors may have influenced the events for reasons beyond migration alone. Police leaders also stressed that the available documents did not conclusively attribute responsibility to any state.
The Sala de Gobierno of the Audiencia Nacional recalled in its statement that police officers acting as Policía Judicial are functionally answerable to the court concerned and are bound by strict confidentiality. This obligation to the court takes priority during ongoing investigations. In reference to the interior minister’s letter, the leadership of the Consejo General del Poder Judicial stressed that communications must respect the independence of judicial work.
The episode exposes two competing interests: protecting the integrity of investigations, including the confidentiality of official documents, and meeting the executive’s need for information in a situation deemed relevant to security. According to the authorities, there are still no reliable findings about who was responsible for or directed the events at the end of July. The Fiscalía of the Audiencia Nacional is examining possible criminal aspects.
Politically, the dispute could affect the flow of information between the executive, police and judiciary. However, specific steps depend on the Audiencia Nacional’s investigation and the public prosecutor’s assessment. What is clear is that the police report in question remains confidential for now, and the investigating judge’s orders remain in force.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).