This Sunday, LโObservateur du Maroc et dโAfrique republishes Abu Wael Al-Rifiโs compelling weekly column, which provides crucial insights into the situation in Spain surrounding the Ceuta issue. Combining rigorous analysis with a clear and resolute perspective, the article reflects the authorโs unwavering commitment to defending Moroccoโs sovereignty.
๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ:
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ซ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ก ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐;
๐๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ง ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ฆ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐จ;
๐๐ฉ๐๐ข๐งโ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌโ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ;
๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ-๐๐ข๐๐ข
The condition of the Spanish has become pitiful. Events there are accelerating at such a pace that it is increasingly clear that no party within Spain is any longer capable of controlling them or keeping up with their momentum. The fragmentation and confrontation have moved well beyond mere differences of opinion or competition over the next elections. They have reached the point where the credibility of state institutions is now at stake.
Spainโs instruments of sovereignty have turned into unruly mass organizations, entirely beyond the control of the central state. If this approach continues, Spain risks becoming insignificant among its European partners, because it is projecting the image of a country whose institutions are at war with one another, disregard their partnerships and commitments, and may drag their allies into the unknown.
This week, we found ourselves facing a state with several competing heads: the central government; the local governments, particularly that of Ceuta; the Ministry of the Interior; political parties from across the spectrum seeking to manufacture an imaginary conflict with Morocco; and several intelligence institutions, each operating within an orbit different from the others. Even the King was not spared attempts to draw him into matters that do not concern him, given that he reigns but does not govern.
Each of these institutions is playing a tune that contradicts the others. The result is a harmful and discordant Spanish symphony, one that exposes the fragility of the countryโs institutions and turns the entire state into a spectacle before the world. The situation has been further aggravated by a partisan media that no longer operates according to professional standards.
At the heart of all these events stands Morocco, which some parties are trying to blame in order to conceal their own failures, shortcomings and helplessness; to inflame tensions as a means of eliminating political rivals; or to exploit as an instrument of populist mobilization amid the rise of the far right.
Prime Minister Pedro Sรกnchez continues to insist that there is no evidence whatsoever of any possible Moroccan role in the assault on Ceuta at the end of July. He was clear on this point in his interview with Cadena SER. The same position was confirmed by Elma Saiz, the Spanish government spokeswoman and Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, during a press conference following a Council of Ministers meeting.
Sรกnchez reiterated the same position before Parliament during a stormy session in which he appeared increasingly submissive to pressure from both the far right and the far left. They drove him toward a strange and hybrid discourseโone that was not devoid of colonial overtones that no one would have imagined coming from a left-wing activistโeither in an attempt to accommodate the pressure being placed upon him or out of fear that his partyโs popularity would decline amid the mobilization being orchestrated by his opponents and even some of his allies.
Sรกnchez claimed that his government had summoned the Moroccan ambassador to Spain. In fact, the Moroccan ambassador was outside Spain on the date when the Spanish prime minister claimed she had been summoned. Furthermore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no authority to open an investigation into events that occurred on Moroccan territory, since that responsibility lies exclusively with the Ministry of the Interior and the competent security authorities.
Throughout his public statements this week, it was clear that the prime minister was relying on Spanish and European intelligence reports that exonerate Morocco and instead assign responsibility, according to him, to Russia, Israel and far-right groups. He justified these accusations by referring to Spainโs courageous positions concerning the genocide in Gaza and Putinโs occupation of Ukraine.
The Spanish government adopted the same position when it claimed to possess evidence that online forums in Israel and Russia had helped incite the flow of irregular migrants toward Ceuta with the aim of drawing in the European Union and undermining its unity.
Since the assault on Ceuta began, Sรกnchez has repeatedly stated that no information issued by the National Intelligence Centre, the security forces or partner agencies proves the involvement of the Moroccan authorities. Yet throughout this period, his government has been playing a double game.
On the one hand, it officially maintains cooperation with Morocco, refuses to hold the country responsible for the events and emphasizes Moroccoโs role in controlling migration. On the other hand, reports attributed to security, military or intelligence sources have appeared successively for weeks, presenting far more hostile interpretations and invoking terms such as โhybrid warfare,โ โespionage,โ โgrey-zone operations,โ โpressure on Spanish military personnelโ and โthe direct participation of Moroccan security forces.โ
Taken together, these elements point to a deliberate maneuver against Morocco. Their combined effect is to create a negative perception of Morocco among Spanish public opinion, while allowing the government to preserve the bilateral partnership at the official level.
This became clearly apparent in Spainโs domestic slide, when thousands of people took to the streets in a deeply negative development whose consequences for future cooperation between the two countries and their peoples the Spanish have failed to assess.
The escalation went so far that the far-right activist Pedro Chaparro, leader of Democracia Nacional, and his deputy, Gonzalo Martรญn, publicly tore up the Moroccan flag. This incident will not pass without consequences. Their reckless act targeted Moroccans throughout the world by attacking what they hold most dear: their national flag, the symbol of Moroccoโs sovereignty, unity and independence.
We say to the leaders of Democracia Nacional: do not be surprised if, tomorrow, Morocco announces the birth of a National Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Moroccan Territories from Spanish occupationโand if it resorts to the same methods Spain once used to occupy them in order to liberate them.
The profound disagreement and divergence between Sรกnchez and the King are no longer concealed by these developments. According to official sources, Sรกnchez and King Felipe VI held talks lasting three and a half hours at Madridโs Zarzuela Palace.
The meeting, which took place behind closed doors and without any prior announcement, was exceptional because of its length. It also came amid the migration crisis in Ceuta and, more particularly, after statements in which Sรกnchez criticized the King for not having visited Ceuta since acceding to the throne more than ten years ago. Felipe VI became King in 2014.
It is therefore clear that a fireball is burning within Spain and that certain parties are seeking to use Ceuta as a means of resolving their internal disputes and settling scores with one another.
Divisions and disagreements have also emerged within Sรกnchezโs own governing coalition. According to The Objective, the prime ministerโs office is seeking to determine whether the intelligence services reporting to Defence Minister Margarita Robles concealedโor deliberately failed to transmit to the Ministry of the Interiorโimportant written reports concerning the risk of a large-scale influx of migrants into Ceuta before 30 July.
In this context, the newspaper refers to an internal investigation being conducted by the prime ministerโs office. The investigation appears inclined to support Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaskaโs version of events. More specifically, Moncloa is trying to establish whether written reports existed warning of the risk of a wave of migrant entries into Ceuta coinciding with Moroccoโs Throne Day, and whether those reports were not forwarded to the Ministry of the Interior.
The Objective considers that this investigation is taking place against a backdrop of severe tensions between Grande-Marlaska and Margarita Robles. It notes that the disagreements between them, which first emerged shortly after they joined the government in 2018, have now reached an unprecedented level.
Within this context, it is necessary to understand the controversy surrounding the purported report by the National Centre for Immigration and Borders, the Centro Nacional de Inmigraciรณn y Fronteras (CENIF). That report allegedly assigned responsibility to Morocco, claiming that its forces and security services had planned and executed the entry of 72,000 migrants into Ceuta on 30 and 31 July.
These were reportedly the conclusions of a document sent to Judge Marรญa Tardรณn at Spainโs National Court and also held by the public prosecutorโs office. El Espaรฑol helped publicize the document, arguing that the reportโs conclusions undermined the Sรกnchez governmentโs strategy of appeasement toward Morocco and provided a solid basis for the National Court to investigate the events.
In a development that illustrates both the institutional fragility of the Spanish state and the contradictions among its competing accounts, the Director General of the Police, Francisco Pardo, informed the interior minister that no police report existed attributing the planning or execution of the events in Ceuta to the Moroccan security forces.
The Ministry of the Interior disclosed Pardoโs response to Grande-Marlaska only a few hours after the minister had sent a letter requesting clarification regarding the contents of this โallegedโ police report, supposedly prepared by the National Centre for Immigration and Borders, which falls under the Directorate General of the Policeโs Immigration and Borders Division.
The senior political official responsible for the police informed the minister that Judge Marรญa Tardรณnโwho had requested a police report in order to decide whether the National Court should open an investigation into the eventsโhad instructed investigators not to provide their superiors with any information concerning the report. For that reason, he had not been aware of it.
On Wednesday, after the judge authorized the investigators to brief their superiors, Pardo met with the directors general responsible for intelligence and for immigration and borders. After hearing from them, he informed Grande-Marlaska that no report existed attributing to the Moroccan security forces responsibility for โplanning or executingโ the entry of approximately 80,000 people into Ceuta during the final two days of July.
Regarding the warning issued by CENIF to border posts on 29 July, which referred to a โsevereโ risk of irregular migration flows, the Director General explained that this was a โrecurringโ warning and contained no indication that a mass influx was likely to occur the following day.
Sources within the Ministry of the Interior explained that, at Francisco Pardoโs request, Javier Antonio Susรญn, the policeโs Director General of Intelligence, informed the Deputy Director General of Operations, Josรฉ Luis Santafรฉ, that โno report had been issued attributing responsibility for the incursion to any government, service or person, since the principal organizer of this incursion remains unknown to this day.โ
For his part, Juliรกn รvila, the police Director General responsible for immigration and border affairs, informed the Deputy Director General of Operations that โno prior reports had been issued by this directorate, with the exception of the report prepared by CENIF on 29 July and other risk-assessment reports produced subsequently.โ
After reviewing these two communications, the police Deputy Director General of Operations informed Francisco Pardo that the reports โdo not make it possible to establish the involvement of any government, service, agency or individual, since the principal organizer of the mass-entry operation that occurred on 30 and 31 July remains unknown at this stage.โ
What OKDIARIO published concerning memorandum โTIFA-3136,โ issued by CENIF and dated 29 July, also represents an important element in understanding the events in Ceuta. It requires a distinction to be drawn between two documents that are fundamentally different in nature, despite both being attributed to the same agency.
The first is an advance-warning memorandum, part of which has now become public. It shows that Spanish services had identified a risk on the day preceding the events, based on information indicating that irregular entries into Ceuta and Melilla were expected the following day. The information was drawn from open sources and social-media networks.
This advance memorandum contained no accusation against Morocco. Instead, it based its assessment on information circulating through social media, the possible consequences of a Supreme Court ruling and previous migration-related incidents.
The second document is a subsequent analytical report, mentioned by El Espaรฑol but not made public at this stage. It directly attributes to the Moroccan security forces the โplanning and management of the influx operation.โ
The report cited by El Espaรฑol is radically different in nature. It was prepared after the events and, according to the newspaper, forwarded to Spainโs National Court, the Audiencia Nacional. It concludes that there was a โplanned operationโ intended to overwhelm Spainโs border-control system and attributes a direct role in its implementation to the Moroccan security forces.
I have discussed these details at length because they provide the clearest possible illustration of the confusion prevailing among the Spanish authorities, their dismissive handling of what occurred at the end of July and their failure to recognize that playing with fire could have catastrophic consequences within Spain itself.
The secondโand more importantโconclusion is that Spain was not taken by surprise by what happened at the end of July. Its competent agency had identified a tangible risk one day earlier and had explicitly anticipated a coordinated crossing operation involving the โmaximumโ level of risk.
Whatever the causes behind the movements of 30 July, therefore, the overwhelming of the border cannot be separated from Spainโs failure to respond adequately to a prior warning.
This point is particularly important because the Spanish authorities are now presenting contradictory accounts of how that warning was circulated. Spainโs internal dysfunctions are thus becoming clear. While the report cited by El Espaรฑol seeks to explain the collapse of the border system as the result of an allegedly planned Moroccan operation, the memorandum that is now available proves that a threat had been identified in advance but, as is evident, was not met with an appropriate preventive response.
During his appearance on the Spanish radio station Onda Cero, the venomous Cembrero continued spreading his hatred and falsehoods about Morocco. He claimed that the massive influx toward Ceuta was the result of a coordinated operation and active complicity on the part of the Moroccan security forces, relying on the same report whose flaws we have already explained.
As is his habit, he tried to lend credibility to his unsupported allegations by adding the customary seasoning of supposed โinvestigationsโ and โMoroccan sources.โ He dismissed the possibility that the Royal Gendarmerie had merely adopted a passive stance and instead suggested the existence of โjoint action by the Moroccan police and domestic intelligence services.โ
This served as his gateway to attack Abdellatif Hammouchi and Moroccoโs security establishment and to claim that the entire operation had been conducted with the approval of the royal authorities.
He forgets, however, that Hammouchi is responsible for managing a land-border crossing through which not even a single irregular migrant entered. The remainder of Moroccoโs land and maritime borders falls under the responsibility of other public forces equipped with heavy weapons and military vessels.
The venomous manโs obsession with Hammouchi is well known. His intense activity over recent days is nothing more than an attempt to divert attention from his benefactors, who fear the consequences of any impartial investigation into all the circumstances surrounding the incident.
That obsession has once again led him to focus on what he describes as a โpolitical contradiction.โ He argues that โalthough Abdellatif Hammouchi was implicated in the Pegasus spyware scandal, he was nevertheless decorated the previous year by Spanish Interior Minister Grande-Marlaska.โ
This is an appropriate occasion to remind everyone of what Abu Wael wrote some time ago: Hammouchi and all those who have received such decorations would be perfectly prepared to return every one of the medals and trinkets that some among you imagine could add anything to their professional standing or symbolic stature.
The recognition, symbolism and distinction deserved by Hammouchi and his team come from royal satisfaction, popular recognition, institutional appreciation within Morocco and the repeated commendations they have received from the worldโs leading intelligence services.
Hammouchi is too occupied with matters of genuine importance to concern himself with such trivialities. His priority is expanding partnerships and supporting Moroccoโs security cooperation with the worldโs major powers.
This week, that work included receiving Nakata Masahiro, Japanโs Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Rabat. The meeting took place within the context of Morocco and Japanโs shared desire to reinforce their security cooperation and diversify the forms and levels of their security partnership in ways that serve the security and stability of both countries. It also provided an opportunity to examine how cooperation and partnership between them could be developed and strengthened across all security-related fields.
In Hammouchiโs daily life, there is nothing but work.
๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐จ๐ซโ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐: Bouya Omar was a well-known shrine in Morocco where people suffering from severe mental disorders were traditionally taken in the hope of spiritual healing. The reference to Bouya Omar โopening a branch for Catholics in the heart of Madridโ is a culturally specific satirical expression used by the author as a metaphor. This note is provided solely to clarify the reference for readers unfamiliar with its Moroccan cultural context.
