The ongoing migration crisis in the Spanish territory of Ceuta, which borders Morocco, continues to fuel misinformation online.
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Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said research by the EU’s diplomatic service indicated that Russian and Israeli networks were responsible for the explosion of fake social media posts, telling Cadena Ser radio on Monday that “the international far right” was also to blame for them, as it always uses migration to “attack not just Spain, but also Europe”. Both Russia and Israel have denied the claims.
More than 72,000 people crossed from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta in just two days, an unprecedented influx that left at least 100 people dead and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian and political crisis.
Thousands still remain in the enclave, with the Spanish government putting the number at around 5,000. Local estimates are higher, and overcrowding, mass protests across Spain and sporadic violence have placed the territory under pressure.
The Red Cross humanitarian organisation has become a prominent target of misinformation surrounding the crisis.
On 27 August, protesters in Ceuta attempted to block Red Cross vehicles delivering food to migrants, amid growing hostility towards the charity.
The Red Cross has been providing food and water to migrants who swam around or climbed fences from Morocco into the Spanish territory in late July.
Against this backdrop, the Red Cross has been the target of false and misleading claims that have circulated online.
One video, shared more than 13,000 times, supposedly showed men being transferred from Ceuta to mainland Spain: some social media users claim that measures to transfer unaccompanied minors to the mainland are being abused, but the video does not show this.
The footage was recorded on El Trampolín beach in Ceuta and shows the Red Cross distributing food to around 2,000 migrants.
We can tell that by looking at other footage, which was published several days earlier by Spanish news agency Europa Press, and shows a different angle of the Red Cross and other charity organisations distributing food to migrants on 3 August.
Other posts have accused the Red Cross of assisting migrants while abandoning Spanish citizens affected by wildfires. Thousands of hectares have burned across Spain and other parts of Europe this summer, fuelled by human-caused climate change and record-breaking heatwaves
For example, one user claimed not to have seen any evidence of Red Cross personnel assisting people impacted by the fires. Other posts alleged that Spanish taxpayer money is being used to feed migrants rather than help citizens.
Further posts claimed that the Red Cross also ignored the victims of the 2024 DANA floods, which killed more than 220 people and caused billions of euros in damage. They allege that NGOs only appeared on the scene to help when “the cameras were already there”, but that they “work like a Swiss watch” when it comes to helping migrants.
However, records from the Red Cross show the organisation operated during both emergencies.
According to its figures, by 24 August, the Red Cross mobilised more than 938 staff and volunteers as fires ravaged the Iberian Peninsula, provided assistance nearly 6,900 times, and gave temporary accommodation to more than 5,600 people.
Its efforts also began immediately in the aftermath of catastrophic flooding in 2024: by the first anniversary of the disaster, it reported having assisted more than 143,000 people through emergency relief and longer-term recovery programmes.
Elsewhere, online posts also claimed that pressure from residents had forced the Red Cross to leave Ceuta and stop assisting migrants.
Protesters did temporarily obstruct its vehicles. However, local reports show that the convoy reached El Trampolín using another route and completed its distribution.
The Spanish Red Cross declined to comment when contacted by The Cube, Euronews’ fact-checking team.
