Judge asks Spain's Defence Ministry whether Moroccan warships entered Ceuta waters

What the judge asked

Audiencia Nacional judge María Tardón, who is investigating the mass entry of migrants from Morocco into Ceuta, has asked the Ministry of Defence whether Moroccan warships or military vessels entered, stayed in or transited Spanish waters adjacent to the city between 29 July and 10 August. The request is routed through the Chief of the Defence Staff (JEMAD). The window opens a day before the events under investigation. If such a presence occurred, the court wants the exact dates and time bands and the identity of the vessels.

The order also asks whether any such presence prompted action, reaction, approach or interaction with Spanish navy ships or any other national military unit. It requests any recordings of the possible stays and asks that they be handed to the court. Finally, it asks whether any similar entry into Ceuta's waters has occurred since 10 August, up to the date of the ruling.

Requests the court rejected

Tardón rejected the investigative steps requested by the unified popular accusation led by Iustitia Europa, describing them as disproportionate and lacking the procedural usefulness required. Iustitia Europa had asked the Defence General Staff, the Guardia Civil and other institutions to preserve radar, sensor, radio and command communications data on Moroccan military vessels near Ceuta. It also sought diplomatic communications and the Foreign Ministry's dealings with Morocco on the matter.

The judge nevertheless ordered other specific and proportionate steps aimed at confirming whether the intrusion took place and under what terms. Her reasoning rests on the fact that the prime minister and several ministers have already accepted the intrusion as a matter of fact.

Government acknowledgement

In the order, Tardón notes that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and some ministers have admitted, with differing assessments, that Moroccan navy vessels intruded into those Spanish waters. The judge treats that admission as a starting point, although the details remain unclear. In an informal conversation with reporters at the Royal Palace, Sánchez acknowledged that Moroccan ships entered Ceuta's waters at the time of the mass arrival of migrants. He described the episode as a "hecho puntual", an isolated incident.

What the court has not established

For now, the case file contains no objective element showing that a possible presence of Moroccan naval units in waters adjacent to Ceuta had any participation, intervention, collaboration or causal link to the events that prompted the investigation. Nothing in the file, according to the order, shows that Moroccan naval vessels formed part of the organisation, facilitation or execution of those events. The judge's questions to Defence are therefore aimed at settling the facts rather than confirming a link.

A reply from the Ministry of Defence has not yet been reported. Any answer will go through the JEMAD and will determine whether further recordings or sensor data reach the court.