Spanish Police Shared Morocco-Ceuta Evidence with Judge, Not Government

Spain's government is facing an acute internal crisis after the National Police informed a judge at the Audiencia Nacional that it holds details which would demonstrate Moroccan involvement in the crossing of some 72,000 people into Ceuta on 30 and 31 July — information that was never shared with the executive. The disclosure has caused what sources describe as monumental anger within the cabinet, directed squarely at the police and, with rather more circumspection, at the judge who ordered the report.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who has held the post for more than eight years, is said to be incensed. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has offered him unconditional public backing, yet within the government and the PSOE there are longstanding voices who argue that Marlaska has lost control of his own ministry. "It is inconceivable that we are publicly defending that Morocco has nothing to do with this while the police are writing a report pointing to the Moroccan police," one minister told El País. "Inconceivable. We are blind to what the police are doing."

Other government sources place blame not on Marlaska personally but on a faction within the National Police and the Civil Guard that, in their view, does not recognise the government's authority and is operating independently — or even, in the words of some cabinet members, working against the executive. "Is the police conspiring against the government?" is a question that several ministers are reported to be asking aloud, according to the report.

La Moncloa sources confirmed that the executive does not possess the report. They said it was a matter of surprise that, if such evidence existed, the police had not informed the government so that decisions bearing on national security could be taken. "We are the principal interested party in our security forces advancing the investigation," the same sources added. Justice Minister Félix Bolaños publicly urged restraint, saying the moment called for "caution" and a thorough reading of the report and all details cited in the press coverage.

The government has also expressed unease about the judge who ordered the report, María Tardón of the Audiencia Nacional, who has kept its contents secret. Government sources noted that Tardón previously held a position in politics with the Partido Popular and served as security councillor in Madrid's city hall under Mayor José María Álvarez del Manzano, and suggested that political interests may be at play — a claim the source material does not independently corroborate.

The controversy arrives at a sensitive moment: Sánchez is preparing a parliamentary appearance, due within hours of the El País report, which was intended to demonstrate that all information available to the government points away from Moroccan responsibility for the Ceuta crisis. A government member, visibly alarmed, noted that the far-right popular-prosecution group Iustitia Europa — a party to the legal proceedings — risks obtaining sensitive national-security material before the executive itself. "It is incredible," the source said.

Across the political spectrum, parties are demanding full information ahead of a plenary session of Congress. The PP, through its secretary-general Miguel Tellado, has called for Marlaska's resignation, describing him as "shameless, incompetent, and a liar". The government's own coalition partners in Sumar have also requested sight of the report. Emiliano García Page, the Socialist president of Castilla-La Mancha, questioned publicly why it took a judicial order to prompt any report on what occurred.

Sánchez, for his part, published a video message offering solidarity to residents of Ceuta without addressing the policing controversy. He acknowledged that ceutíes were facing "difficult circumstances" and that it was understandable they felt the state's response had been insufficient, while pledging to mobilise all resources and pointing to a €309 million plan approved the previous Tuesday. The Ceuta crisis has already exposed wider fault lines across European border policy, and Brussels has acknowledged that external actors may be exploiting the situation, even as the question of Morocco's direct culpability remains formally unresolved. As the parliamentary session approaches, the sense of disorder within the Interior Ministry shows no sign of abating.