“We are not going to let this matter be between Mohamed VI and Pedro Sánchez”. The Popular Party, after weeks of squeamishness, in which it avoided voicing outright criticism, has decided to bell the cat and in recent days directly accuses Rabat of the invasion that took place in Ceuta at the end of July.
Both to try to resolve the humanitarian, social and security crisis derived from the presence of an undetermined number of immigrants in the autonomous city; to prevent a similar episode from happening again, Alberto Núñez Feijóo seeks greater involvement of the European Union. The objective is to put the Moroccan regime in its place and, at the same time, draw a red line to Pedro Sánchez.
In the coming days, the national president of the PP will focus on “Europeanizing” the Ceuta crisis. On Thursday, he will have a meeting in the Congress of Deputies with Magnus Brunner, European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration of the European Union. On Monday, he will go to the autonomous city together with the leader of the European PP, Manfred Weber. A trip to which Genoa gives special significance. “It is not just a symbolic visit”they hold in the dome. “That the leader of the first party in Europe goes to the southern border is a message to Morocco.”
In parallel, the PP wants the European Parliament to rule on Ceuta and this Tuesday, in a plenary session, it has managed, with the support of the Conservatives and Reformists (the group that includes forces like Meloni’s), to hold a debate that will subsequently vote on a resolution against the management of Pedro Sánchez’s Government and in favor of “a coordinated response to protect European borders.”
In the opinion of Genoa, “Europe is not doing the diplomatic and pressure work” What could correspond to you in this crisis “because the Government does not ask for it.” In commercial matters, without going any further, Brussels has enough room to apply sanctions that would put Morocco in check.
Feijóo’s main objective is for the dispute between the two countries to escalate to other instances. «Let it be an issue of Europe and Morocco»they point to the popular leader’s team. “In the Government they want Ceuta to go under the radar of Europeans, we do the opposite.” So far, no member of the Council of Ministers has pointed out Rabat as responsible for the invasion. But in the PP they are clear. Hence the statement he issued last Friday to put his foot down in the face of threats from the neighboring country.
To Feijóo’s movements we must add the recent visit of the president of Ceuta, Juan Jesus Vivasto Brussels. And yet another maneuver in the European Parliament, where PP and Vox got the Petitions Committee to give the green light to a mission of MEPs that will travel to the autonomous city to analyze first-hand the situation resulting from the crisis.
The second objective for which the PP has proposed to “Europeanize” the crisis is the Government’s response and the temptation to apply a remedy that involves distributing the immigrants – older or younger – who are still in the city to other parts of Spain. “Europe cannot relax its demand that no one cross the Strait”the popular ones point out.
After the latest changes in immigration policy undertaken by Brussels, the PP maintains that Spain cannot deviate from the marked path. And to avoid a detour, they think about Feijóo’s surroundings, it is crucial “that Europe continues to insist on return.” Not in the “distribution.” In August, a community spokesperson stated: “We continue to insist that the expectation is that all those who remain illegally in Ceuta will be returned.”
As the days go by, the debate begins to make its way. Initially, the Government, through the mouth of the head of diplomacy, Jose Manuel Albares; and the head of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaskasaid that all immigrants would take the way back from where they entered. Now, the discourse has changed and “welcome” is within the possibilities. Of course, for minors, the Government already proposes a distribution to the communities, which if it does not occur is because the Ceuta government – which has legal guardianship – refuses.
Vivas’s argument is that transferring any immigrant, whether older or younger, to the peninsula, would be like endorsing the way in which they entered and, most seriously, would intensify the “call effect.” The risk, the Ceuta authorities and the PP insist, is that the migratory pressure ends up being unsustainable. And, today, the border presents the same vulnerability as in July: if Rabat allows it, there could be a new assault. Therefore, the idea is to dissuade citizens on the other side of the fence from even having the thought of trying.
This Monday, at the end of the PP steering committee, the spokesperson Borja Semper He continued in his ideology. “Morocco’s social policy is not made in Spain, it is made by the Government of Morocco,” he said. And he stressed that we cannot “make this situation chronic” nor “create a precedent,” because “those who entered irregularly must return to their country.” The three steps, in relation to minors: «Humanity, attention and return». A path for which the PP seeks the active and direct participation of Brussels.