Brussels Signal says 72 Moroccan military personnel are inside Ceuta; El Mundo reports a Spanish row over who was warned

The number. Brussels Signal says "Spanish intelligence has identified 72 Moroccan military personnel in Ceuta". In its own voice, it calls this "a significant infiltration tied to the recent border crossing". It names no source and no document. Its headline says "army intelligence", but the body says only "Spanish intelligence". It ends: "The situation remains under investigation."

The quarrel. El Mundo gives no figure. It reports that Robles told Congress the CNI, Spain's intelligence service, had passed her information about the call to swim into the city. The outgoing delegate, Pérez Triano, "at first" contradicted her. Robles asks his successor for "máxima sinceridad" and doubts the outgoing delegate's "transparencia".

What is not settled

• Whether the figure of 72 is right. We hold one report carrying it, with no named source.
• What "military personnel" means here. The report does not say whether they are serving soldiers.
• Whether the CNI warning reached the delegate. We hold only El Mundo's short account.
• What Morocco says. Neither report quotes a Moroccan official.

What this is about. Spain's government is arguing over what it knew before people swam into Ceuta from Morocco. A Brussels outlet says Moroccan military personnel came with them.

How it got here. Ceuta is a Spanish city on the north coast of Africa, across the Strait of Gibraltar from mainland Spain. Spain has held it since the 17th century. Morocco has never recognised Spanish rule there, or in Melilla, the other Spanish city on the African coast. The two cities are the European Union's only land borders in Africa. Both are fenced. People who cannot get over the fence sometimes try to swim around it, off the beaches at either end.

In May 2021 a mass crossing into Ceuta, much of it by swimming, came in the middle of a diplomatic row. Spain had admitted Brahim Ghali for hospital treatment. He leads the Polisario Front, which disputes Morocco's control of Western Sahara. Spanish ministers accused Rabat of loosening its border controls in response, and Morocco rejected the charge. In March 2022 Spain moved closer to Morocco's position on Western Sahara, and relations recovered.

The actors. Margarita Robles is Spain's Defence Minister. The CNI, Spain's intelligence service, sits under her ministry. The government delegate is Madrid's representative in Ceuta and oversees the police there. Morocco guards the other side of the border.

What is at stake. If Moroccan military personnel entered Ceuta, the crossing becomes a matter between two states, not only a migration event. If the CNI warned Madrid and nothing was done, the question is who failed to act. Either way it touches the EU's external border, which Spain guards on the Union's behalf.

Where it stands. Ceuta has a new government delegate. The figure of 72 rests on one report, which says the matter is still under investigation.