Embattled Spanish PM Sánchez insists no prior warnings before Ceuta crisis - BBC News BBC Homepage Skip to content Accessibility Help Your account Home News Sport Earth Reel Worklife Travel Culture Future Music TV Weather Sounds More menu More menu Search BBC Home News Sport Earth Reel Worklife Travel Culture Future Music TV Weather Sounds Close menu BBC News Menu Home Climate World UK Business Tech Science Entertainment & Arts Health In Pictures More BBC Verify Newsbeat World Africa Asia Australia Europe Latin America Middle East US & Canada Embattled Spanish PM insists no prior warnings before Ceuta crisis Image source, Olmo Blanco/Getty Images Image caption, Pedro Sánchez is under considerable pressure from opposition parties and tens of thousands of Spaniards protested on Wednesday night By Paul Kirby , Europe digital editor  and  Guy Hedgecoe , Madrid correspondent Published 3 September 2026 Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said no-one foresaw the influx of 72,000 migrants in the exclave of Ceuta, as pressure mounts over his handling of the crisis. "It's absurd to think that the government knew and did nothing," Sánchez told Spain's parliament on Thursday, hours after tens of thousands of people joined protests across the country backed by opposition parties. Sánchez also maintained there was no evidence Morocco was behind the mass crossing and there had been "close co-ordination" between the two countries. A Spanish police report has highlighted the "total permissiveness" of Moroccan security forces, although senior officials insist it does not point the finger at Rabat. Although most of the migrants have been sent back to Morocco, some 5,000 remain on the streets and beaches of Ceuta, on the North African coast, including as many as 1,400 children. There have been several reports that Spanish officials had been warned of a rise in sea arrivals over the border at Ceuta, following a Spanish court ruling that many migrants misunderstood to mean