MADRID, Spain – Maximum alert in Ceuta and Melilla. Spain has mobilised nearly 200 additional Civil Guard officers amid the threat of a new mass assault on the borders of the two autonomous cities this Wednesday, coinciding with Morocco’s legislative elections. The deployment confirms the enormous concern that exists despite the government’s attempts to publicly downplay the seriousness of the calls circulated on social media in recent weeks. While Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares assures that these calls are not taking hold, the Interior Ministry is sending special units, reinforcing maritime surveillance and preparing the borders against the risk of a repeat of the chaos at the end of July. Ceuta has received 144 officers from the Reserve and Security Group from different autonomous communities, while three Rapid Intervention Modules comprising around 60 personnel have been sent to Melilla, with the National Police also rotating officers from the Police Intervention Unit without increasing the total number of personnel.
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The government has been monitoring messages encouraging irregular crossings of the Spanish border this Wednesday for weeks, with the calls seeking to take advantage of Morocco’s election day under the idea that the neighbouring country’s security forces will devote much of their resources to guarding the polls. The Spanish Embassy in Rabat has also reacted with a campaign in Spanish and French to try to curb crossings, warning in its messages that entering national territory irregularly does not give the right to remain in Spain. The Interior Ministry has also ordered maritime surveillance to be intensified in Ceuta, Melilla and the Spanish sovereign territories, with patrolling already increased at the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, the Alhucemas Islands, the Chafarinas and the Perejil islet after similar calls were detected.
Fear among officers is evident, with Civil Guard sources warning that no matter how many personnel are sent, it would be very difficult to contain another simultaneous arrival of tens of thousands of people. Security forces are placing particular reliance on floating barriers installed at the Tarajal breakwater in Ceuta and the South Dike in Melilla, which would allow immediate action against those attempting to access the autonomous cities by sea. In Melilla, returns have already been carried out of migrants who tried to reach the city by swimming via the South Dike, with authorities seeking to prevent beaches and breakwaters from once again becoming points of uncontrolled entry.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska confirmed on Monday that the reinforcements are preventive in nature and will be maintained regardless of the final credibility of the calls, detailing the sending of three additional GRS platoons to each autonomous city. Morocco has also reinforced its side of the border, with the Gendarmerie aware of the calls and maintaining personnel deployed at the main access points to Ceuta and Melilla. In Castillejos, armoured vehicles equipped with pressurised water cannons are prepared to contain possible avalanches, and roads leading to the town from Tetouan and Tangier remain under surveillance. The Royal Moroccan Navy is reported to have mobilised six rigid-hulled boats to patrol the coast and thwart possible attempts to enter by sea, a deployment that contradicts messages claiming the border would be practically unattended during the elections.
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The government delegate in Melilla, Sabrina Moh, has called for calm and maintains that there are no specific alerts about new entries, though she acknowledges that surveillance of social media calls is permanent in order to react to any incident. The executive is trying to convey tranquillity, but the deployment shows a much more delicate situation: nearly 200 officers mobilised, special units prepared, maritime patrols, floating barriers and armoured vehicles on the other side of the border. After the avalanche at the end of July, Ceuta and Melilla do not want to find themselves overwhelmed again, and both cities are preparing for a day of maximum tension while their residents once again look towards Morocco with the fear that any call on social media could turn into another mass assault.
