Key Takeaways:

Spain released classified files showing CNI warnings before the July 30 surge when about 80,000 people entered Ceuta. Agents flagged social-media calls to cross by fence and sea around 8 p.m. during Morocco’s Throne Day.
The messages described large online followings and possible entries by swimming or over the fence, and a CNI memo was also sent to Moroccan security services.
Sánchez says the papers show the government was not properly warned; Interior Minister Grande-Marlaska says intelligence did not alert them, while Defence Minister Robles says CNI did. Coverage notes the declassification is incomplete.

(EurActiv) — Secret intelligence files and communications reveal that Spanish authorities received advanced warnings about plans to breach the Ceuta border on 30 July.

The Spanish cabinet made public on Wednesday dozens of classified documents ahead of the migrant influx when approximately 80,000 people irregularly entered the Spanish city enclave in North Africa.

Information provided by the CNI, Spain’s national intelligence services – in charge of both domestic and foreign intelligence – revealed mass online calls to cross the border, coinciding with the ‘Throne Day’ festival in Morocco, a major celebration commemorating King Mohammed VI’s reign.

In a WhatsApp conservation with a central government official a day prior to the surge on July 29, a CNI agent stationed in Ceuta flagged an impending threat of coordinated border crossings from Morocco.

“On social media there is a call to storm by the fence and sea tomorrow at 8:00 PM, taking advantage of the ‘Throne Day’ festival and that their security forces will be busy,” the agent wrote.

The agent said there were two different groups with a total of 180,000 followers who were calling to enter Ceuta. “To give you an idea of the reach of the dissemination,” he noted.

In another declassified conversation that day, a CNI agent aid in the internal communication channel with the civil guard police force, that there was “information of an attempt at entries by swimming and jumping the fence” pointing out that Facebook and WhatsApp groups were incentivising the entry.

Pedro Sánchez announced the mass publication of secrets documents last week in Congress as the prime minister aims to prove his government failed to prevent and act because it lacked prior intelligence warnings from its secret services and security forces. Yet, government sources told Cadena SER that the declassification is only partial, leaving several reports excluded or redacted without explanation.

Since the beginning of the crisis, the role of the intelligence services ahead of the crisis has sparked a public cabinet rift between Sánchez’s key ministers.

Interior Ministry Fernando Grande-Marlaska has maintained that the intelligence services did not warn of the influx. In response, Defence Minister Margarita Robles – whose ministry oversees the CNI – stated that the units “had done their job” and alerted authorities and security forces, as revealed reports so far confirm.

A warning, as revealed by a CNI memo, was even issued to Moroccan security services, known by their acronyms DGED and DGST.