Statement from PorCeuta.es

Over the past few hours we have carried out a review and clean-up of the data recorded on PorCeuta.es and we have detected two issues that we believe are important to explain with full transparency.

First, we have found approximately 4,000 duplicate records caused by a fault in the initial operation of the website. They have already been identified and we are correcting that data so the figures reflect the real support received as faithfully as possible.

Second, we have detected close to 14,000 records generated automatically by bots, with random names and temporary or clearly automated email addresses. This activity also coincides in time with an anomalous spike in traffic from Morocco, far above the usual level. This is an objective traffic figure; on its own, it does not allow us to attribute authorship of the fraudulent records or point to who is behind them.

As a result, we have strengthened the validation and monitoring systems of PorCeuta.es to automatically detect anomalous behaviour, make new automated sign-ups harder and alert us to any unusual situation.

I want to apologise because these records may have temporarily distorted the figures we have displayed. This project was built quickly, with great effort and with a single purpose: to give visibility to the support for Ceuta and make it easy for anyone to join.

We will keep cleaning, reviewing and publishing the data with the greatest possible transparency. If anyone tries to alter the figures again, we will correct them again.

They will not discourage us. On the contrary: they push us to do better.