Analyst says Spain's Prime Minister Sanchez facing a 'tricky moment' on migration

(31 Jul 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
London, UK - 31 July 2026
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicolas Lawley, special advisor to the director and chief executive of Chatham House:
"I think this is a particularly tricky moment for Pedro Sanchez, because he has made such an effort to sort of make the other case for migration, that it can be economically positive and sought to regularize approximately half a million migrants. Now, he has received over a million applications to be regularized in Spain which has caused, as you can imagine, quite a debate on migration, and I think this is being really spread by the right in Spain, who would rather have, and not just Spain but across Europe and across the world, we've seen Elon Musk joining in this debate, who would rather Sanchez has to fight the next general election on migration rather than the economy, which has gone rather well. So it's about trying to make migration the number one topic to discuss that general election, which must happen essentially in the next 12 months."
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rabat, Morocco - 31 July 2026
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Myriam Cherti, a senior researcher for COMPAS, the University of Oxford's Centre on Migration, Policy and Society:
"So why did it happen? Why now? That's a good question because I think it's not just one factor. It's not a trigger. I think there's an opening. When we talk about young people, there's the accumulated social and economic frustration, lack of job opportunities. But there's also something interesting why it happens also around this summer period."
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3. SOUNDBITE (English) Myriam Cherti, a senior researcher for COMPAS, the University of Oxford's Centre on Migration, Policy and Society:
"Social media was also a tool to help those who've made it, so with practical advice on what to do when you get there, what are the first practical things you could do, register, get in, you know. All the things that were needed. Of course, other dimensions come to play here because we can't really underestimate the kind of the bigger geopolitical dimension here. Of course there's diplomatic developments that at times trigger this."



STORYLINE:
An analyst commenting on the migrant influx of Spain's Ceuta territory on Thursday said the Spanish Prime Minister now faces a 'tricky moment' on migration.

"I think this is a particularly tricky moment for Pedro Sanchez, because he has made such an effort to sort of make the other case for migration, that it can be economically positive and sought to regularize approximately half a million migrants," said Nicolas Lawley, special advisor to the director and chief executive of Chatham House.

"It's about trying to make migration the number one topic to discuss at that general election, which must happen essentially in the next 12 months," added Nicolas.

About 60,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into the Ceuta territory in the past 24 hours, Ceuta’s president said on Friday, a figure that is equivalent to 70% of the population of the city in North Africa.

Myriam Cherti, a senior researcher for COMPAS, the University of Oxford's Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, also flagged the role of social media in the migrant influx.

"Social media was also a tool to help those who've made it, so with practical advice on what to do when you get there, what are the first practical things you could do. All the things that were needed," said Cherti.

Video footage on Thursday showed crowds of people, mainly Moroccans, walking around the breakwaters at Tarajal beach onto local roads.