Spain has asked fellow European governments to stop publicly criticising Morocco over the Ceuta migration crisis, according to three sources, as the EU works to preserve its relationship with a key partner on migration control and counterterrorism.

Madrid made its request during an online meeting of EU interior ministers on Tuesday. Several ministers questioned how 72,000 people could enter the Spanish territory of Ceuta, on the North African coast, in such a short period.

Spain's appeal reflects the EU's wider interest in avoiding friction with Rabat, which remains central to managing future migration flows into Europe and has long cooperated with Brussels on counterterrorism and intelligence-sharing.

"There doesn't necessarily have to be anyone to blame"

At a press conference on Tuesday, Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska declined to assign responsibility for the crisis. "There doesn't necessarily have to be anyone to blame," he said.

Aside from a veiled reference by Spain's defence minister, Madrid has avoided direct public criticism of the Moroccan government. A Western government source told Euractiv that Morocco is believed to have at least tacitly approved the surge towards Ceuta, and that the incident likely served as a political warning to Madrid.

Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz took a different line, openly calling on Morocco to take back the migrants who entered Ceuta. Other EU leaders have avoided pointing to the kingdom's responsibility, even as analysts and media reports questioned how such a large-scale crossing could occur without at least a relaxation of Morocco's normally strict border controls.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reiterated the principle that migrants should not be instrumentalised to pressure the EU, but did not name Morocco. She floated offering more financial support to Morocco as the Commission explores deepening ties between Brussels and Rabat.

Court ruling and disinformation

The crisis gained momentum from false claims circulating on social media about a ruling by Spain's Supreme Court. The ruling prohibited Spanish authorities from carrying out forced "immediate" returns of irregular migrants who arrived by sea into Ceuta and Melilla.

Western officials also observed that actors within the Russian disinformation ecosystem reacted "very quickly and on a massive scale" to events at the Spanish-Moroccan border.

Morocco has echoed the disinformation framing. Interior Ministry spokesman Rachid Khalfi said on Sunday that the "exploitation of the digital sphere" created the impression that entering Europe through Ceuta was easy and carried no legal consequences. Morocco also blamed the Spanish court ruling that triggered the speculation, saying Madrid should have foreseen the consequences.

EU response: smugglers and disinformation

Rather than assigning blame to key partners, the European response has largely shifted focus to people smugglers and the possibility that disinformation on social media amplified their messaging.

European Commissioner for Migration Magnus Brunner said on Tuesday that Europol, the EU agency supporting national law enforcement, was looking into possible disinformation linked to the crisis.

EU ambassadors and ministers discussed disinformation's role in the crisis this week and agreed on the need for better intelligence-sharing. The European External Action Service has begun examining whether Russian actors sought to exploit the event on social media for political purposes.

Frontex, the EU border agency, is also eyeing an expansion of its powers in an upcoming European Commission review, potentially including the ability to monitor disinformation spreading on social media.

No clear independent research or investigation has yet established a coordinated campaign before the events took place.