Embattled Spanish PM insists there were no prior warnings before Ceuta crisis

Pedro Sánchez is under considerable pressure from opposition parties and tens of thousands of Spaniards protested on Wednesday night Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said no-one foresaw the influx of 72,000 migrants in the exclave of Ceuta, as pressure mounts over his handling of the crisis. "It's absurd to think that the government knew and did nothing," Sánchez told Spain's parliament on Thursday, hours after tens of thousands of people joined protests across the country backed by opposition parties. Sánchez also maintained there was no evidence Morocco was behind the mass crossing and there had been "close co-ordination" between the two countries. A Spanish police report has highlighted the "total permissiveness" of Moroccan security forces, although senior officials insist it does not point the finger at Rabat. Although most of the migrants have been sent back to Morocco, some 5,000 remain on the streets and beaches of Ceuta, on the North African coast, including as many as 1,400 children. There have been several reports that Spanish officials had been warned of a rise in sea arrivals over the border at Ceuta, following a Spanish court ruling that many migrants misunderstood to mean they would not be pushed back if they swam across. Spain's handling of the migrant influx angered some of its European partners, and Italy responded by imposing border restrictions on arrivals from Spain. Spaniards took to the streets in a number of cities to mark Ceuta Day As Thursday's fierce debate in Congress showed, the situation in Ceuta has developed from a humanitarian and logistical crisis into a major political challenge for the Socialist leader. The two cities have the EU's only land borders in North Africa and Sánchez told parliament: "Ceuta is not the border of Spain, it is Spain on the border [of Europe]." Protests in Spain against government's handling of Ceuta migrant crisis Sexual assaults happening almost every day in Ceuta, prosecutors say Violence breaks out in Ceuta as migrant crisis continues Politicians to both his left and right point to what they say is Morocco's track record of using the border with Spain as leverage when it has a grievance. He praised the response of Ceuta police who had chosen to "defend human life" when the influx took place, rather than defend the border.