A Moroccan frigate, information leaked to the press and Spanish intelligence officers apparently determined to make Pedro Sánchez pay for his handling of the migration crisis. Behind the controversy that erupted on October 12 over reports of an alleged incursion by Moroccan vessels into Ceuta’s waters, another confrontation may be unfolding—this time within Spain’s own state apparatus.
That, at least, is the account given by Spanish newspaper The Objective, which reports that officers from the National Intelligence Centre (CNI), Spain’s intelligence agency, deliberately leaked the information to “take revenge” on the prime minister.
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The leaked information, published by Miguel González in El País on October 12, concerned the alleged presence of a Moroccan frigate in Ceuta’s waters. Sánchez played down the incident at the time, describing it as an “isolated occurrence.” Yet according to The Objective, the report caught several government ministers off guard as they gathered in Madrid for Spain’s National Day celebrations, including Defense Minister Margarita Robles.
But the dispute goes well beyond naval movements. According to the newspaper, the leak points to a breakdown of trust between the Sánchez government and sections of Spain’s intelligence establishment. Morocco, once again, finds itself drawn into a political quarrel whose real origins lie in Madrid.
Conflicting accounts of intelligence warnings
To understand the source of the resentment, it is necessary to revisit last summer’s migration crisis in Ceuta and the subsequent dispute over what Spanish authorities knew, or should have known, before the mass arrivals.
According to The Objective, the CNI had warned its political superiors of the possibility that “80,000 to 100,000 migrants” could enter the territory. Intelligence officers now reportedly believe the government played down their warnings or even sought to discredit them.
Tensions are said to have intensified after the prime minister’s office, La Moncloa, declassified 40 documents relating to the crisis. The government presented the move as an exercise in transparency. Intelligence sources quoted by the newspaper, however, strongly dispute that account, accusing the administration of selectively releasing information.
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The officers denounce what they call “political manipulation,” describing the published material as “crude and selective” documents intended, in their view, to shield the government and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska. The minister had notably maintained that no one could have anticipated the crisis.
The dispute has reportedly spilled into the courts. As part of an investigation led by National Court judge María Tardón, the CNI is said to have recently submitted a document showing that it had passed its warnings to its political superiors “as a matter of the utmost urgency.”
According to the newspaper, the government is nevertheless refusing to declassify all the documents requested by the judiciary. Those records could potentially implicate several officials along the chain of command, from the government’s representative in Ceuta to the prime minister himself.
Fears of further leaks ahead of elections
Sources consulted by The Objective say “further damaging leaks” targeting the government cannot be ruled out before Spain’s next general election.
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The officers quoted speak of a sense of “betrayal” by the man they regard as their highest political authority. They believe they have been subjected to “humiliation” and “international discredit,” despite expressions of solidarity they say they have received from allied intelligence agencies and other Spanish security forces.
With Spain’s election just weeks away, the possibility of further disclosures adds a political dimension to the confrontation. As for Morocco, it once again finds itself at the center of a Spanish controversy which, if the newspaper’s revelations are to be believed, is driven above all by divisions within Spain itself.
