Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s ruling Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) has nominated 26-year-old Abdellah Abdellah Mustafa as a candidate for the Senate representing the autonomous city of Ceuta. The nomination has been made in collaboration with the ‘progressive’ electoral alliance Frente Amplio.
Mustafa replaces the PSOE’s candidate, José Miguel Romero, and will stand as an ‘independent’ on the joint list ‘Senado de Progreso por Ceuta’ in the election on 29 November 2026.
Standing up against ‘far-right extremism, hatred and exclusion’
The nomination of Mustafa, a young Muslim activist with roots in the city’s Muslim neighbourhoods, has become a point of contention in the ongoing Spanish election campaign. He was born and raised in Ceuta and, since 2022, has been the leader of the neighbourhood association in the Muslim district of Sidi Embarek.
Mustafa has a background as a street sweeper and a cook. He became a local ‘celebrity’ following the invasion at the end of July when he organised a ‘solidarity camp’ for women in the Moroccan invasion force, estimated to number 80,000 people.
When the nomination became public, Mustafa deleted Facebook posts containing Moroccan symbols and flags. He also deactivated his Instagram account. Among the posts that have been circulating is a photo of him standing next to a Moroccan flag, accompanied by the caption “surrounded by fascists”. Other posts have included Islamic messages and criticism directed at France, amongst others.
Abdelah Mustafa, the PSOE-FA candidate for the Senate in Ceuta, who has not condemned Morocco’s invasion of his city and refuses to hold it responsible, has deleted all Moroccan propaganda from his Facebook page. pic.twitter.com/qydb3nLVR2
— Ahmed Baba (@AhmedBabaD86) 27 October 2026
Mustafa is being criticised for supporting Moroccan interests and backing Morocco’s claims to the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. He has refused to describe the mass border crossing at the end of July as an ‘invasion’; according to him, they did not come ‘with violent intentions’:
– If they’d wanted to take the city, they could have done so.
Vox has reacted sharply. The party sees the nomination as further proof that the PSOE prioritises Rabat’s interests at the expense of Spain’s; Mustafa’s deleted posts and his rejection of the term ‘invasion’ show that he does not defend Spanish sovereignty over the city.
– The traitor makes no secret of it. This is Sánchez’s candidate in Ceuta. And Sánchez is Morocco’s candidate for the post of Prime Minister of Spain – according to Vox leader Santiago Abascal:
The traitor makes no secret of it.
This is Sánchez’s candidate in Ceuta. And Sánchez is Morocco’s candidate for the presidency of the Spanish Government. https://t.co/bAduC0PrnC— Santiago Abascal 🇪🇸 (@Santi_ABASCAL) 27 October 2026
Is Pedro Sánchez in Rabat’s pocket? Has he sold out Spain to save his own skin?
Mustafa himself says he is taking on the challenge with humility and emphasises that the aim is to stand up against ‘far-right extremism, hatred and exclusion’, as well as to give a voice to the peripheral city of Ceuta.
