A sweeping new poll suggests Spanish voters have delivered a stinging rebuke to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s handling of the ongoing migrant crisis in Ceuta, with more than eight in ten saying his Socialist government has not done enough in response to last month’s mass border surge.
The survey, conducted by Sigma Dos for Madrid’s El Mundo newspaper among more than 2,100 voters, found that 82.2 per cent believe the Sánchez administration has failed to adequately address the situation in the small North African exclave, where over 70,000 people crossed into Spanish territory.
Perhaps most troubling for the leftist prime minister as he looks toward a looming re-election campaign, the frustration is not confined to opposition voters. According to the poll, 56.9 per cent of his own Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) supporters and 52.7 per cent of those backing his coalition partner, Sumar, also expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s inaction.
Voters Blame Morocco
The overwhelming majority of respondents also rejected the government’s efforts to blame the crisis on supposedly “fake news” circulating on social media. Instead, 90.4 per cent said they believe the Islamist Moroccan state played a role in facilitating the storming of Ceuta’s borders, while 59.7 per cent said they view the move as a means for Rabat to “pressure and blackmail” Spain.
The Sánchez government appears significantly out of step with public opinion on how to respond to Morocco. While Madrid has mooted increased foreign aid and stepped-up cooperation with Rabat, a majority of those surveyed called for a harder line: 55 per cent said they favour militarising the border, and 52.8 per cent said they support sanctioning the Moroccan government.
On the question of what to do with the migrants who remain in the territory, 77.2 per cent backed the deportation of all illegals still present—including unaccompanied minors, many of whom were left behind because of their higher chances of receiving asylum and the potential to bring family members to Spain via chain migration.
Heightened Tensions on the Ground
The poll comes amid heightened tensions in Ceuta itself. Some residents of the city launched vigilante-style efforts on Thursday to break up the migrant camps on Trampolín beach, where thousands have constructed ramshackle tent shelters out of reeds and garbage.
Rather than promptly removing the remaining migrants, the Sánchez government has suggested that Ceuta dedicate its limited supply of sports centres and other facilities to house the supposed asylum seekers. Local authorities have argued that migrants should at least be placed in areas away from large population centres, amid multiple reports of sexual assaults and growing concern over the spread of disease.
Political Stakes Rise
With less than a year to go before Spain’s next scheduled election, the handling of the Ceuta crisis may prove critical to the leftist government’s chances of clinging to power. Even before the crisis, Sánchez faced steep opposition to his open-borders agenda, which included a mass amnesty of upwards of a million illegals earlier this year.
The prime minister has also been dogged by scandals involving alleged corruption among top political allies, including former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and even his own wife, First Lady Begoña Gómez.
A separate poll earlier this month by NC Report for La Razón indicated the PSOE would lose around two million votes compared with the previous election, falling to just over 25 per cent. Sumar would collapse to 5.9 per cent, down 6.4 points, and the far-left Podemos would secure only 3.5 per cent.
By contrast, the centre-right People’s Party is projected to win 34.2 per cent, while the anti-mass-migration VOX party would take 18 per cent—a result that could place the PP in government but dependent on Santiago Abascal’s immigration hardliners.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/08/29/over-8-in-10-spanish-voters-think-socialist-govt-failed-in-handling-ceuta-migrant-crisis/