Spain’s socialist government fired a staff member for having published a timely national security alert during last week’s massive migrant invasion of Ceuta while it occurred, local outlets reported on Monday.
The alert, which was reportedly deleted moments after it was published on Thursday, warned Spaniards that over 49,000 illegal migrants had so far stormed into Ceuta.
According to Spanish outlets, the unnamed female staff member formed part of the Spanish Presidency’s Department of National Security (DSN) since 2018, and was tasked with issuing the department’s breaking news and informative alerts on both DSN’s own website and on social media. DSN is currently led by Spanish General Loreto Gutiérrez Hurtado.
El Español reports that, on Thursday, the staff member released an official announcement at DSN’s website alerting that over 49,000 illegal migrants had so far breached into Ceuta — describing the then-developing invasion as the “worst migrant crisis registered in the city since May 2021.” The alert was reportedly taken down from the website moments later.
Sources reportedly claimed to El Español that the information disclosed through the alert “was not mean to be public, as it was intended solely for internal use.” As such, the staff member was fired from her position at the DSN on Friday, August 1 — the same day that she had begun her scheduled vacation period. The staffer reportedly learned of her dismissal over a phone call.
“Despite the government’s lack of foresight, the only person dismissed was the civil servant. And this, even though the data she released was accurate,” El Español wrote.
According to El Español, DSN has not updated some of the channels used by the department to disclose institutional or emergency information since July 31.
Other unnamed sources affirmed to the newspaper ABC that DSN chief Hurtado ordered the staff member’s immediate dismissal on Friday. Per the sources, the now-fired official was only allowed to return to the office to retrieve her personal belongings.
The sources consulted by ABC reportedly emphasized that it is “unusual” for the Spanish presidency to fire an employee in the manner in which the DSN staff member was dismissed.
The newspaper explained that, typically, when an official assigned to the Spanish presidency is dismissed from their duties, the staffer is sent back to the home agency that they came from — which, in the case of the fired DSN official, it would be the Spanish Defense Ministry.
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“However, according to the same sources, that department had not been formally notified of her dismissal, nor was any process initiated with the employee to arrange her return to the ministry,” ABC wrote.
Estimates from Ceuta’s local government indicate that upwards of 60,000 illegal migrants swam their way into Ceuta during last week’s dramatic events — almost doubling the Spanish enclave’s some 87,000 population in the span of hours. As Breitbart News reported, European Union leaders are expected to hold a video conference on Tuesday to address the migrant invasion of Ceuta, which is now described as the single largest migrant crossing in E.U. history.
The chaotic invasion of the Spanish enclave by tens of thousands of illegal migrants occurred days after the Spanish Supreme Court issued a ruling banning law enforcement officials from conducting pushbacks of illegal migrants at sea. The ruling effectively caused a legal loophole that the massive swarm of illegal migrants sought to exploit and make their way into Spanish territory.