Minister Albares and Morocco's Foreign Minister will meet in New York with Ceuta in focus: pending returns and alert ahead of 23-S

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, will meet this week in New York with his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, to address the migratory situation in Ceuta. The meeting, which will take place on the sidelines of the United Nations High-Level Week, comes almost two months after the massive entry of some 80,000 people from Morocco and with a new call on social media that urges people to try to access the city this Wednesday, September 23, taking advantage of the celebration of elections in the neighboring country.

Albares explained that there is still no specific time for the meeting because both teams are "coordinating their schedules." Despite this, the minister confirmed that the two have agreed to hold a face-to-face meeting to "be able to have a calm and quiet conversation" about the situation in the autonomous city.

One of the central issues will be the return of migrants who still remain in Ceuta after the massive entry on July 30. Albares recalled that, after that episode, he urged Rabat to mobilize "all necessary means" to "cut off that flow of people." According to the minister, that intervention allowed the entry to be stopped and that "in the end, 90 percent" of those who had entered irregularly returned within 48 hours.

The meeting will also take place while Spanish and Moroccan authorities remain attentive to the September 23 call. Foreign Affairs maintains contacts with Rabat and has activated a strategy against disinformation spread on social media, while Morocco prepares to prevent a new attempt to enter. The previous call, scheduled for August 15, ended, according to Albares, in "a great failure."

The minister assured that his Moroccan counterpart tells him that Rabat will collaborate "at all times" to resolve the situation in Ceuta, a cooperation that, he noted, has been "confirmed from the very beginning." In parallel, Albares has urged those who intend to enter irregularly to follow the "truthful information" disseminated by Foreign Affairs and has also asked the Moroccan press to contribute to conveying that message.

Given the new call, the head of Spanish diplomacy has also launched a warning to those who may consider crossing the border irregularly: "Entering Ceuta and Melilla irregularly neither grants access to reach Europe, nor will it allow them to stay indefinitely". The Government thus tries to counteract the messages circulating on social media that have once again placed the autonomous city before a possible attempt of massive entry coinciding with Morocco's legislative elections.