Full story
Ceuta crisis and online push
An analysis by 411 found that Russia-linked social media accounts promoting far-right messages reached more than 500,000 people in the days after the mass influx of people into Ceuta.
“reached more than 500,000 people in the days following the mass influx of people into Ceuta”
The report said the “barrage began on 1 August” and that the accounts framed the events along far-right lines, calling them a deliberately coordinated “assault” and suggesting authorities were complicit.
It also said the narratives were reproduced in seven languages and reached more than 720,000 views over the course of six hours on 1 August, based on an examination of roughly 4.5m social media posts.
The analysis described “peer-to-peer logistics chatter” between potential migrants on social media over how to make the crossing, with much of it in the comments beneath viral Ceuta videos.
Saman Nazari, lead researcher at Alliance4Europe, said, “Quite regularly, we are seeing this escalation happening across Europe now, with these types of crises.”
Spain and Italy clash
Spain threatened on Friday to impose restrictions on travellers from Italy unless Rome lifted by Sunday the border controls it introduced last week after the mass influx into Ceuta.
Italy responded that it would not accept “ultimatums or impositions” from Madrid and said it would keep in place its suspension of Schengen rules for non-EU nationals arriving from Spain until at least August 15.
Spain said Italy’s decision was “unjustified, contrary to the interests of the European Union and discriminatory against the Spanish population,” and promised “proportionate measures” unless Meloni rolled back the new constraints by Sunday.
Reuters said the dispute marks a new low in relations between Giorgia Meloni and Spain’s Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez, with Spain’s Youth Minister Sira Rego telling TVE1, “The impression is that Ms Meloni is on a crusade.”
The BBC reported that Ceuta’s leader Juan Jesús Vivas told the European Parliament he had personally told Pedro Sánchez that the response was late and insufficient, while saying between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants remain in Ceuta.
What comes next
The BBC said the crisis has created tensions among EU nations that share open borders and that the EU Commission commended Spain’s “swift response” to the crisis, including deploying armed forces to Ceuta and its other territory on the north African coast, Melilla.
“the EU Commission has commended Spain's "swift response" to the crisis”
Vivas told the European Parliament that there was still a humanitarian emergency and disturbances to public order in the territory and that it was “basically impossible” to return the minors who had crossed because this required their consent.
The BBC reported that Spain’s interior minister said the government had allocated €25m (£21.4m; $28.8m) to assist minors in Ceuta, while Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that 4,860 migrant children have been registered by volunteer groups in Ceuta.
Reuters said Spain’s Civil Guard is aware of calls online for a fresh border crossing attempt at Ceuta on August 15, though it is not clear how many people might take part.
In the Guardian’s analysis, 411 warned that “That machinery is the real thing to worry about, more than this particular crisis,” adding that the next time there’s a border incident on the Mediterranean, relay networks are already in place to amplify it again.
