Spanish Intelligence Warns of New Wave of Illegal Immigrants to Ceuta

Moscow (ANTARA) - Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI) had warned the country’s Interior Ministry of an imminent new wave of migrant arrivals, but the ministry chose to ignore it.

“The Spanish Interior Ministry received numerous warnings from the CNI,” a Spanish government source told the radio station Cadena SER on Monday.

The intelligence service did not know the exact timing of the attempted border crossings, but had warned of the risk.

The Spanish Interior Ministry failed to act on the warnings and is now trying to shift the blame onto the CNI, the radio station reported, citing statements from several sources.

Earlier, on Friday (31/7), the Mayor of Ceuta, Juan Jesus Vivas, said around 60,000 people had entered Ceuta illegally. The city’s current population is approximately 85,000.

“Those people would not have entered Spain if the Interior Ministry had taken steps to prevent it,” said one source.

Several sources at the Spanish Interior Ministry confirmed that they had noticed an increase in the flow of migrants since mid-July and had informed the relevant minister.

In the radio report, a government source said security along the border with Ceuta had been tightened, but did not detail what measures had been taken.