A social-media campaign that helped mobilize thousands of people to cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta last month was linked to networks operating from Algeria, according to findings cited by Moroccan news outlet Le360, raising fresh questions over whether the migration crisis was exploited as part of Algiers’ anti-Moroccan agenda.
The Algerian involvement centers on a campaign that circulated instructions and encouragement to young Moroccans seeking to reach Ceuta, including through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp groups.
Le360, citing a 75-page report by Spanish security analyst José María Gil Garre, says investigators identified telephone numbers with Algerian and Tunisian country codes among accounts involved in the campaign. The report also identified networks and social-media accounts presenting themselves as Moroccan while operating with digital traces that investigators attributed to Algeria.
The report’s findings have been cited by Moroccan media as evidence of a coordinated Algerian operation.
Le360 also points to linguistic clues in Arabic-language posts, including the use of terminology more commonly associated with Algerian Arabic and administration than Moroccan usage.
Several accounts named by Le360 allegedly promoted the crossing, including pages presented as Moroccan youth or activist groups. Some reportedly used the names or identities of existing Moroccan platforms, while genuine administrators of those platforms denied involvement.
The campaign appears to have exploited a widely circulated interpretation of a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling concerning the treatment of migrants arriving by sea.
According to Le360, online posts portrayed the ruling as meaning that migrants who reached Ceuta could not immediately be returned, helping fuel expectations that the crossing would result in entry into Spain.
The alleged operation would represent a new dimension in Algeria’s goal to undermine Morocco’s stability, in which migration has periodically become intertwined with diplomatic tensions.
