The message was sent on July 29 at 1:52 p.m. The CNI warned that the call was intended to take advantage of Throne Day and that Moroccan security forces would be occupied with the celebrations. Intelligence added a detail to indicate the scale of its reach: two different groups had a combined 180,000 followers.
The warning was not limited to WhatsApp. One of the CNI documents records the existence of especially active profiles and a group called "Assault on the Ceuta Border Fence," which Intelligence said was preparing an attempt to enter through the border perimeter. Facebook groups with more than 160,000 and 22,000 members were also identified, featuring messages encouraging people to cross into Ceuta.
After receiving the messages, the Ceuta Government Delegation called the CNI at 9:34 p.m. The call lasted 11 minutes. The published documentation does not specify what was discussed during the conversation.
THE CNI HAD ALREADY ISSUED A WARNING THE PREVIOUS DAY
The documents also show that communications had begun earlier. On July 28, the CNI had already sent the Delegation via WhatsApp the poster for the "Ceuta Raises Its Voice" rally, scheduled for August 2, because of its potential consequences for public order. One day later, the explicit warning arrived regarding the call to enter by sea and over the border fence.
The documentation thus confirms that the CNI had issued a prior warning before the events of July 30 and 31. The government points out, however, that those warnings did not make it possible to anticipate the scale that the entry of more than 70,000 people would ultimately reach, since the communications did not include a specific estimate of the number of people who would attempt to enter Ceuta.
