Spanish intelligence services warned of social media calls for a mass migrant crossing into Ceuta the day before tens of thousands of people entered the territory, newly released government documents show. The revelations emerged in documents declassified by the Spanish government amid accusations it failed to give the full story of the migrant influx. On
Politicians to both his left and right point to what they say is Morocco’s track record of using the border with Spain as leverage when it has a grievance. Many have interpreted the police report pointing to the role of Moroccan security forces in the July crossing as reinforcing this theory, although Sánchez maintained there
The socialist-led government of Pedro Sánchez has appealed for calm and accused Vivas’s People’s Party (PP) and the far-right Vox of stoking the tensions. José María Figaredo, a member of Congress for Vox, is being investigated for a possible hate crime after saying, soon after the migrants’ arrival, that they should be “hunted down, one
The crisis had calmed since breaking out in late July, but it has sparked tensions between EU nations which share open borders as well as criticism of the Spanish government. Italy suspended the 29-member Schengen arrangement of free movement with Spain and introduced border checks on arrivals from Spain. Italy was backed by Finland and
The accounts have managed to manipulate the algorithms on major social media sites by sharing emotive and hopeful content to gain more traction. Insiders at the biggest social media companies have previously told me how posts triggering a strong reaction are more likely to go viral. When I tried to contact some of these profiles
It remains unclear exactly why tens of thousands of migrants attempted to cross into Ceuta, but the EU’s Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner has suggested criminal networks spreading disinformation were to blame – an assertion the Spanish government has agreed with. The crossings came after Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that migrants stopped at sea while trying