The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, has insisted in Congress that the military intelligence services, including the agents of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), fulfilled their functions in the days leading up to the massive entry of migrants in Ceuta and conveyed their warnings to both the Security Forces and the Government Delegation. However, she has refused to provide additional data, citing that the duty of secrecy is "a burden."
During her appearance before the Defense Commission, Robles expressed her recognition of the work of the Armed Forces during that migratory crisis at the end of July and particularly highlighted the actions of the Armed Forces Intelligence Center (CIFAS) and the CNI itself, whose effectiveness was questioned after the massive arrival of migrants. In those days, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, stated at a press conference that no one had alerted about an entry of migrants of the magnitude recorded in Ceuta at the end of July.
The Defense official, however, maintains that the intelligence services did adequately fulfill their duties, including the 25 CNI agents deployed in the area, whose activity is protected by the duty of secrecy, "which is a guarantee for their actions," although, as she has admitted, on many occasions "it operates as a burden by preventing publicity for the actions they carry out."
Robles detailed that these forces "provide their services and carry out their mission in Ceuta, monitoring the situation in the area daily from multiple perspectives: relations with neighboring countries, the geopolitical situation on the southern flank, the actions of organized crime, their use of networks, the rise and increase of jihadist terrorism, and obviously the development of irregular migration, addressing the situation of neighboring countries, the Sahel, as well as destabilizing actions through hybrid threats made by international agents."
The minister also emphasized that, in those days of tension, the military "carried out the work that was and is required of them and that they shared and analyzed with the State Security Forces and with the personnel of the Government Delegation," stressing that there was constant coordination between Defense, Interior, and the Government representation in Ceuta.