Spain spies warned of mass migrant invasion into Ceuta before surge – despite officials insisting there was ‘no warning’

SPANISH spies sounded the alarm over plans for a mass migrant push into Ceuta just one day before tens of thousands stormed the enclave.

Bombshell declassified documents reveal intelligence chiefs had uncovered huge social media groups urging people to breach the Spanish territory.

Migrants were being encouraged to swim around the border or scale its fortified fence on July 30.

Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI) warned Moroccan intelligence agencies, authorities in Ceuta and the Civil Guard about the chilling calls a day earlier.

Yet Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has insisted the staggering scale of the crisis could not have been predicted.

At least 72,000 people poured across from Morocco into Ceuta over July 30 and 31.

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In one note from July 29, the CNI revealed it had identified WhatsApp and Facebook groups promoting the mass crossing.

People were being urged to make their move “both swimming and via the [border] fence”.

The sprawling groups had a combined reach of around 180,000 people.

“There are two different groups with a total of 180,000 followers. Just to give you an idea of the scale,” the CNI wrote.

One incendiary message circulating online declared: “Whoever wants to cross has the last chance on Throne Day [30 July] at 8 the authorities will be distracted with the celebrations and parades.”

The intelligence service passed its findings to Morocco’s DGST and DGED agencies.

The Spanish government’s representatives in Ceuta were also tipped off by text.

But Sánchez previously told parliament there was “no information that conveyed the magnitude” of the “crisis we were going to suffer” during the final two days of July.

Shortly before the secret files were released on Wednesday, the Spanish leader again insisted “the mass arrival of migrants was not expected”.

The revelations have now sparked a furious political storm.

Opposition politicians have accused his government of failing to come clean about what it knew before the border was swamped.

Ester Muñoz, of the conservative People’s Party, blasted: “They had the information, they are directly responsible for the invasion of Ceuta and for those who died.”

Far-right Vox politician Jorge Buxadé went further.

He raged on social media that Sánchez “and his band of criminals should be brought before the Supreme Court for treason and security crimes”.

But Madrid has fiercely rejected claims it could have foreseen the sheer scale of the influx.

Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said he was “not aware of any report that might have forseen the magnitude of what happened on July 30”.

A government source insisted the newly published files “showed that the information available before the mass crossing did not make it possible to anticipate the scale that the crisis would reach or prepare with enough time the necessary response”.

Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano, the central government’s delegate in Ceuta, also played down the significance of the messages sent to his office.

He said: “The Whatsapps from [July] 29 do not constitute an alert or a report.

“It is nothing more than an exchange of information.”

But other documents show alarm was mounting as the crisis rapidly spiralled.

An internal Defence Ministry presentation produced on the day of the surge warned of “migratory chaos”.

Around 1,700 people had already arrived when the warning was issued.

It chillingly added that “more intrusions are to be expected in the very short-term.”

A separate report from Spain’s National Centre for Immigration and Borders (CENIF) later branded the July 30 and 31 influx “planned”.

The document was prepared at the request of the National Court.

It also pointed to the conduct of Moroccan security forces, including what it described as the “active guidance” of migrant flows towards crossing points.

Spain’s Interior Ministry has separately reported that Moroccan border officers were passive during the surge.

Some of those who crossed have made similar claims.

But Sánchez maintains there is no evidence that Moroccan authorities were behind the extraordinary breach.

Although most of those who entered Ceuta later returned, thousands are believed to remain.

Many are living in makeshift camps or sleeping rough on streets and beaches.

The fallout has fuelled bitter unrest, with locals voicing safety fears and protests erupting over the government’s handling of the crisis.

And now security chiefs are scrambling to prevent a terrifying repeat.