Feijóo blames the Government for the “premeditated occupation” of Ceuta: “It is not something unforeseeable”

Alberto Núñez Feijóo has limited himself in recent hours to making demands of the Government to respond to the arrival of 50,000 immigrants from Morocco. However, once most of those people have been returned and the situation seems more or less under control, the leader of the PP has already moved on to demanding accountability from the Government, which he has blamed for what happened. “What has happened here is not just another incident, it is a premeditated and unprecedented occupation of Spanish territory. It is also not something unforeseeable,” he stated.

Read more Interior currently counts 67 dead in Ceuta, awaiting a final toll

Feijóo, who appeared from Ceuta accompanied by President Juan Jesús Vivas, assured that “this threat was known.” The leader of the PP, who said that Ceuta and Melilla “will be strategic priorities” if he comes to government, stated that this threat was known because, in general, it “is identified in the State’s strategic documents” and, specifically, everything seems to indicate that “it was known since the beginning of the week.”

For Feijóo, the “invasion” of Ceuta is the Government’s fault because it is the result of a “triple failure.” “The failure of migration policy, security policy, and foreign policy,” he stated. “All of this is the exclusive competence of the national government,” he added.

In this regard, he elaborated by stating that the person responsible for promoting a “permissive” migration policy and for “sending the message for years that one can enter Spain in any way and be regularized” is Sánchez’s Government, as well as for “defending Spain’s southern border” and for giving “the world an absolutely lamentable image.” “Therefore, it is the Government that must assume the consequences and responsibilities of its own actions,” he added.

Likewise, Feijóo has criticized Sánchez’s decisions and explanations regarding what happened in Ceuta: he assured that what happens cannot be reduced “to the pressure of mafias nor to any Supreme Court ruling,” as the Prime Minister has done. In this regard, the PP has already promoted a change in the Immigration Law for two weeks to guarantee the rejection at the border of immigrants and has labeled the Government’s response with the deployment of buoys as “ridiculous” and “insufficient and late.” “Why weren’t they put much earlier?” asked the leader of the PP.

Furthermore, Feijóo does not believe that the Ceuta crisis is due to mafias but to Morocco, although he did so in a veiled manner. “What a responsible ruler would certainly never do is delegate his obligation to resolve this situation to the mere will of those who have occupied this city,” he stated, referring to Morocco. “A serious, viable, and responsible state defends itself with determination,” he added.

Read more Marlaska assures that the CNI did not alert about the massive influx of immigrants that overwhelmed Ceuta

Regarding relations with Morocco, he pointed out that it is necessary to clarify “what has failed in cooperation with Morocco.” “This should not have happened and cannot happen again. Spain wants and must maintain a relationship with Morocco based on mutual respect, cooperation, and good neighborliness. That is how it should be,” he said, although he warned that “every good relationship between states requires reciprocity, transparency, and good faith.”

“Collaboration cannot depend on circumstances; it must be permanent. Spain must fulfill its obligations and has the right to demand that those who share with us the responsibility to protect this border also fulfill their own obligations,” he stated.

Likewise, Feijóo has made five demands of the Government: immediately expel those who have entered; decisively reinforce the forces of the Civil Guard, National Police, and Armed Forces and use all the instruments contemplated by the Constitution to give them legal backing; fortify the border perimeter of Ceuta and Melilla; reform the Immigration Law; and accept help from Europe.

In this regard, about Sánchez’s letter to the European Union reproaching the criticisms he has received, Feijóo warned that “Spain must not isolate itself” and “much less boycott it.” “Instead of fueling diplomatic clashes with our European partners, what the Government should do is strengthen our borders with the same determination and resources as European partners,” he pointed out.

Vivas warned that Ceuta is still not “normal” because “there are several thousand people who must be returned” and the climate and mood among the population is marked by “unease and concern.” “It is necessary to put in place whatever means are effective to ensure that the return of all those who entered here irregularly in recent days is completed,” he stated.

Read more Morocco probes, its allies punish