On 9 September 2026, the Spanish government published declassified documents on the situation in Ceuta The documents show that the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia on 29 July 2026 sent a warning at 13:52 via WhatsApp to the cabinet of the Delegación del Gobierno in Ceuta According to the transcript, the message referred to a “llamamiento para asalto por valla y mar mañana a las 20:00 horas” circulating on social networks, in the run-up to the celebration of the Moroccan Throne Day on 30 July 2026.
According to the documents, La Moncloa’s release comprised reports, notes and several WhatsApp messages from the period 1 to 31 July 2026. They mention two Facebook groups with around 160,000 and 22,000 members respectively, as well as other WhatsApp groups; the public account puts the combined figure at around 180,000 followers The documents also contain official communications to units of the Guardia Civil and a brief note to Moroccan services.
The Centro Nacional de Inteligencia emphasises that the warning was addressed to local contacts. At the same time, in the documents released, the service acknowledges that it did not fully anticipate the “Magnitud y naturaleza” of the subsequent mass border crossings. La Moncloa in turn stresses that the release of the documents is intended to make internal procedures transparent.
Opposition parties and local representatives in Ceuta are now demanding to know why the warnings did not lead to broader, nationally coordinated operational preparations. Three issues are at stake: first, how online calls were assessed internally; second, whether and when information was escalated to higher-level operational command centres; and third, how coordination with Moroccan authorities took place in the hours before 30 July 2026. The government points to ongoing assessments; no confirmed consequences had been announced by press time.
What is confirmed is that on 29 July 2026 at 13:52, the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia sent a WhatsApp message to the Delegación del Gobierno in Ceuta explicitly warning of a possible “Asalto por valla y mar” the following day. It is also confirmed that La Moncloa published the relevant documents on 9 September 2026. Further assessments concerning procedural failures, responsibility or the effects of the warning remain either unresolved in the released documents or are identified as assessments rather than established facts.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).