Declassified Spanish intelligence and security reports reveal that authorities had received warnings of possible "mass entries" into Ceuta days before thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, speaking in parliament, said when announcing the declassification of the 40 documents that there was "no information that conveyed the magnitude" of the crisis Spain would face on July 30 and 31.

But a document from CENIF, a National Police border division, issued on July 29 said authorities had detected attempts by migrant groups to organize mass entries into Ceuta.

"Internal communications have been detected in migrant groups in which they are trying to organize mass entries on the night of 7/29/2026," the document said.

CENIF also reported that nearly 1,000 people had swum into Ceuta from Morocco between July 1 and 28, describing the increase as "a drastic upward trend compared to last year" and "a consolidated and priority threat."

An urgent memo from the National Intelligence Centre, issued on the afternoon of July 29, also warned of "several calls to carry out entries into Ceuta" on Facebook, including in a group with more than 160,000 members.

Despite the warnings, Sanchez said in a message on X on Wednesday that the information available at the time could not have predicted the scale of the migration crisis that unfolded on July 30 and 31.

He said no competent authority in Spain or the European Union had foreseen the scale of the events.

Sanchez has also maintained that his government received no report providing "solid evidence that Morocco planned or carried out the episode."

With input from wires