Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has defended his government's handling of a mass migrant influx into Ceuta, as authorities prepare accommodation for up to 10,000 people in the enclave. Around 80,000 migrants, mostly young Moroccan men, crossed into Ceuta on 30–31 July, overwhelming local capacity, though Sánchez said nine in ten had since been returned to Morocco. The crisis has become politically charged, with questions raised over how much advance warning the government had and criticism from Ceuta's own regional leadership over the response.

Sánchez told television programme El Intermedio that housing for 6,000 people would be ready by the end of the week, rising to 10,000, and said he hoped to stabilise the situation by year's end, appealing for patience from Ceuta's roughly 84,000 residents. He rejected claims that leaked intelligence communications from 29 July amounted to a formal warning of the crossing, and defended Morocco despite at least 141 migrant deaths. Ceuta president Juan Jesús Vivas disputed this, saying around 13,000 migrants remain in the city, that he had repeatedly warned Madrid beforehand, and that Sánchez had not contacted him since visiting on 31 July — while reports emerged that the PM's chief of staff spent August on holiday in Japan.