The crisis opened in Ceuta after the massive assault on the Tarajal border has incorporated a new element of concern: the risk of radicalization and jihadist recruitment. According to what is published this Sunday by El Debate, citing information from Corriere della Sera, the Italian secret services would have conveyed to their Government a report warning that the situation created in the autonomous city could turn it into a hub of jihadist activity.
Is it a jihadist recruitment center?
According to the Italian newspaper, the Italian intelligence services believe that the chaos caused by the massive entry could favor Ceuta becoming a center of "radicalization and jihadist recruitment", with the possible presence of people from the area who in the past would have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight. El Debate, based on information from Corriere, points out that the dossier would have been prepared with information shared by the Spanish secret services.
The data is particularly relevant because it introduces a dimension of counter-terrorism security in a crisis that until now had been primarily marked by migration control and the protection of the Spanish border. However, this is information attributed by Corriere della Sera to intelligence sources and not from a report whose content has been publicly confirmed by the Spanish Government.
The alleged Italian intelligence report
According to the reconstruction published by the Italian newspaper, the Italian secret services would have warned their Government that the situation generated in Ceuta could be exploited by jihadist networks to develop recruitment and radicalization activities.
The Corriere della Sera focuses on people from the area who, in the past, would have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight. The alleged risk would not be that the massive entry constituted a terrorist operation by itself, but that the circumstances created after the assault could generate an environment susceptible to being exploited by radical organizations or networks.
The information also contains a particularly sensitive element: according to Corriere, the Italian report would have been prepared with information shared by the Spanish secret services. El Debate highlights this point as one of the most relevant aspects of the information published by the Milanese newspaper.
However, this statement must remain in the realm of journalistic attribution. It is not publicly recorded that the Spanish Government has confirmed the existence of that dossier nor that it has adopted its conclusions.
The fear of a new assault on August 15
The supposed anti-terrorist alert is also linked to another concern of the intelligence services: the possibility that a new attempt at massive entry into Ceuta on August 15 occurs.
According to Corriere della Sera, the Italian services would be monitoring the calls disseminated through Moroccan channels on social networks due to the risk that the images of the assault recorded days earlier at Tarajal are repeated.
The Italian newspaper would have included those calls among the elements analyzed by its intelligence services. The hypothesis they are considering is that a new concentration could lead to another coordinated attempt to cross the border.
The scenario is particularly concerning due to the dimensions reached by the previous episode, which forced the reinforcement of the security device in the autonomous city and has provoked a political and diplomatic response that already transcends the relations between Spain and Morocco.
Castillejos, under the spotlight
The information from Corriere also focuses on Castillejos, the Moroccan locality located opposite Ceuta and separated from the autonomous city by a few kilometers.
According to the supposed intelligence report that the Italian newspaper would have accessed, Castillejos has been the subject in the past of joint anti-terrorist operations between Spain and Morocco aimed at transborder jihadist networks.
The reference is relevant for security services because the geographical proximity between Castillejos and Ceuta makes any evolution of the situation in the area a matter of direct interest for Spain.
In this context, Italian concern would not be limited to controlling migratory movements. The analysis cited by Corriere also considers the possibility that pressure on the border could be exploited by radical networks to recruit or influence vulnerable individuals.
A reinforced security device
The information links this concern with the extensive security device deployed in anticipation of a new assault.
According to the Italian newspaper, the Government of Pedro Sánchez would grant a high credibility to the possibility of a new massive entry on August 15. Hence, the device has been reinforced with the deployment of the frigates of the Navy Santa María and Navarra, in addition to about 2,000 military personnel and an increase in the number of Civil Guard and National Police officers, according to the information collected by El Debate.
The deployment represents an exceptional response to the fear that there will be renewed pressure on the border of magnitudes similar to that recorded at Tarajal.
The military dimension thus adds to the police and intelligence services' surveillance, at a time when the Government maintains open coordination with Morocco to prevent a new massive entry.
Italy raises the crisis to the level of European security
The information also helps to contextualize the decision made by the Government of Giorgia Meloni to temporarily suspend free movement with Spain.
According to Corriere della Sera, the fear of an increase in the activity of jihadist networks after the Ceuta crisis would have been one of the elements that contributed to the Italian decision to establish border controls with Spain, initially until August 15.
The measure has opened a diplomatic crisis between Madrid and Rome and has led the Spanish Government to respond with controls on travelers coming from Italy.
The conflict thus ceases to be exclusively bilateral between Spain and Morocco. The situation in Ceuta has begun to have consequences within the European Union itself and, in particular, in the relationship between two countries members of the Schengen.
The information thus adds a new layer to a crisis that has already caused an extraordinary deployment of the Security Forces and Corps, a military response in the autonomous city, a diplomatic confrontation between Spain and Italy, and surveillance against a possible new attempt at massive entry on August 15.