Partners of Sanchez consider it “unacceptable” that he exonerates Morocco in the crisis in Ceuta, and reproach him for the state of emergency lasting a month. The investment bloc on Thursday strongly criticised the management by government president Pedro Sanchez of the migration crisis in Ceuta, showing a mix of disappointment and distrust. Regular government partners do not believe that Morocco was behind the mass influx of migrants on July 30, as Sanchez had previously claimed.
They accuse Morocco of using migrants “as cannon fodder” to destabilise Spain. The groups also reproached Sanchez for not yet addressing the Lower House (the first plenary session after the summer) and for the fact that the situation in the autonomous city has not stabilised, with thousands still on the streets. Overall, the tone of all groups was harsh, including the coalition partner Sumar, which says Sanchez acted “late” in a crisis that erupted when more than 70,000 people crossed the Tarajal breakwater on foot, by swimming, or using flotation devices.
Demands for explanations and severing relations
Sumar demands that Sanchez summon the Moroccan ambassador and “request explanations”, while Podemos calls for “breaking diplomatic and commercial relations” with the neighbouring country. Sanchez’s speech appears not to have reduced the political tension, which has been growing in recent days and solidified in the Congress this Thursday. After a speech that lacked self‑criticism, details about what happened, effective measures and accountability, the government president assured that there is no “solid” evidence that Rabat organised this “avalanche”, but partners, including Sumar, disagree.
The spokesperson for Sumar, Enrique Santiago, said “Spain suffered an attack from Morocco” and denied that the crisis stems from border mafias. He insisted the culprit is Morocco, which, under the cover of the United States and Israel, “organized” the mass entry of tens of thousands of people to destabilise the country with “clear political and geostrategic intentions”. He demanded that the Moroccan ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich—whom Sanchez reported meeting on August 21—be summoned again and asked for “explanations” regarding the events at the end of July.
Criticism of strategy and proposals regarding migrants
Enrique Santiago, the spokesperson for Sumar, also reproached Sanchez for reacting “late” and for not convening the first National Security Council until a month after the mass entry. According to Santiago, the government’s initial strategy was to “wait” for those who crossed the border to return voluntarily after a few days, a inaction that left thousands of migrants still in the autonomous city four weeks later, many of them on the streets and in makeshift camps.
Sumar urges the immediate transfer of these migrants to the peninsula so that each case can be examined and international protection or deportation procedures, if necessary, can proceed “with all guarantees”. Deputy Enrique Santiago rejected the proposal for an “immediate” return of all migrants, as demanded by PP and Vox, and called on the central government to stop “defending impossible solutions”, especially concerning under‑age migrants. He recalled that “child‑protection laws passed by the Rajoy government prohibit immediate returns and oblige autonomous communities to take them into their custody and care”.
Another spokesperson, Aina Vidal—also co‑spokesperson for Comuns—expressed regret that Sanchez has not announced measures to protect the rights of “thousands of children” who “are waiting in Ceuta and are not being transferred to the peninsula because of the blockade imposed by the autonomous communities governed by the PP”. She also said Morocco must provide explanations and noted that the crisis shows international policy with Rabat “has failed”. While she did not place all the blame on Morocco, she argued that the current situation also results from a border where “everything that was disliked was outsourced and paid for”, now being used as an attack in response to Spain’s support for Palestine since the start of the Israeli offensive.
According to 20minutos
