Ceuta President Juan Jesús Vivas testified before National Court Judge María Tardón, detailing ten separate attempts to contact the Prime Minister in the days leading up to the massive border breach of July 30 and 31. Out of those ten calls and messages placed between July 27 and 29, Vivas confirmed that only three received a response, all handled through Cabinet Director Diego Rubio.
The testimony marks the beginning of judicial interrogations into the operational collapse at the border, which saw thousands of migrants enter the Spanish autonomous city from Morocco. Tardón assumed jurisdiction over the case in September and has requested operational reports from more than thirty state security and government bodies.
Unidireccional Communications with Moncloa
Describing his exchanges with the central government as entirely unidireccional, Vivas told the court that the Autonomous City repeatedly transmitted urgent data to Madrid while receiving little substantive engagement in return. According to legal sources present at the hearing, Vivas stated that Rubio responded to the first two outreach attempts by noting that the administration was working on the issue with competent ministries and treating it purely as a migration matter. During the final response, Rubio reportedly instructed the Ceuta leader that mandatory communication channels had to go through the Government Delegation rather than the Prime Minister’s Office directly.
The Prime Minister did not speak with Vivas until the afternoon of July 30, by which point the border had already been overrun. Vivas testified that during that conversation, the Prime Minister characterized the situation as a humanitarian crisis, whereas the local leader repeatedly insisted it constituted an invasion.
Direct Warnings to Central Ministries
Ahead of the border collapse, Vivas engaged directly with multiple members of the national cabinet to sound alarms over the escalating emergency. He spoke with Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and State Secretary for Security Aina Calvo, both of whom maintained that ministry legal services saw no legal basis for the extraordinary preventive measures requested by local authorities. Vivas also raised his concerns directly with Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Víctor Torres and Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares. Vivas also contacted Defense Minister Margarita Robles on July 30 to request military intervention.
During their conversation, Albares emphasized Morocco’s collaboration on migration management. In contrast, Vivas described Morocco to Judge Tardón as a direct threat to Spain.
Throughout these interactions, local authorities pushed for the declaration of a national emergency, the appointment of a single unified command, and a significant reinforcement of security forces. Vivas noted that none of those preventive steps were executed at the time; a unified command was not established until August 26, nearly a month after the crisis began. He also pointed out that local warnings were underpinned by stark statistical surges, such as the number of minors under the city’s care jumping from 180 to 800 between July 25 and 28.
Judicial Next Steps
Exiting the Audiencia Nacional, Vivas expressed satisfaction with the proceedings, stating that he observed determination from both Judge Tardón and Chief Prosecutor Jesús Alonso to uncover the facts. Vivas committed to submitting a detailed written chronology of the events to the court.
The judicial schedule continues with testimony from the Chief of the Local Police of Ceuta, Sebastián Vega, and the former Chief of Cabinet of the Government Delegation, Gonzalo Sanz. Judge Tardón considers these three initial testimonies vital for mapping out the exact information available prior to the events, evaluating official preparations, and determining the precise causes of the operational breakdown.
