Rabat (AFP) – Morocco said on Thursday there were "no facts" establishing its involvement in the massive migrant rush into Spain's North African exclave of Ceuta in July.

More than 70,000 migrants entered Ceuta from Morocco on July 30 and 31 in an unprecedented, chaotic surge that left scores dead and sparked European Union infighting over the touchy issue of migration.

The Moroccan foreign ministry said there were "no facts or reports proving any involvement by the Moroccan authorities".

The ministry added that Rabat refused to become the "scapegoat for political score-settling" in Spain.

The statement marked the kingdom's first official reaction to a Spanish police report accusing Morocco's security forces of "total permissiveness" when the mass crossing took place.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has consistently avoided blaming Morocco, noting that there was no "solid proof" that the North African country orchestrated the migrant rush.

On Wednesday, Spain declassified intelligence reports that had warned of potential "mass entries" by migrants into Ceuta just before the incident happened.

A declassified military intelligence document on July 30 states that it is "highly likely that the Moroccan authorities are not actively encouraging the migratory wave, but have so far acted in a negligent and passive manner".

But Sanchez on Wednesday said on X that with the information available "no one could have foreseen the migration crisis that unfolded".

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