Política

When satirical voting grows, it means the traditional system is disconnected from the streets

If anything was clear on Saturday, it is that border control by Morocco makes an avalanche like the one Ceuta experienced on July 30 impossible. From the call to try again on the 15th for the massive entry into Spain, and therefore into Europe, only images remain of the…

If we look at the cold figures, as the Minister of Health, Mónica García, did yesterday, Ceuta is not suffering any healthcare collapse after the latest border assault. The healthcare pressure in the autonomous city has been decreasing since the first day of the mass crossing, when 1,149 people were attended to: last Saturday, 193 were recorded. The University Hospital of Ceuta has expanded its capacity to 212 beds, about half of which are currently empty. There are 101 patients admitted, but the immigrants occupying a bed do not reach thirty.

The Partido Popular raised its tone this Sunday against the Government’s management following the migration crisis at the end of July in Ceuta. And taking advantage of Mónica García’s visit to Ceuta, its Deputy Secretary of Autonomous and Local Coordination, Elías Bendodo, has called for the resignation of the Minister of Health, whom he has pointed out as “responsible” for the “healthcare collapse” that, according to his party, the autonomous city is suffering. An “emergency” categorically denied by the minister, who has placed the complications on the street and not in the healthcare centers.

The Minister of Health, Mónica García, denied this Sunday that Ceuta is suffering a healthcare collapse following the massive arrival of migrants recorded at the end of July, although she acknowledged that there are areas “especially strained” such as Emergency, Internal Medicine, or surgical wards. In response to the PP’s request to declare a health emergency, the Minister of Health made a clear distinction between three realities that, in her opinion, should not be confused: “There is no healthcare collapse. Is there a humanitarian crisis? Yes. Is there a public health risk right now derived from the overcrowding of people? Yes.”

The feared Tren de Aragua gang, which was born in a Venezuelan prison, has transformed the type of crime in Chile, where it has accumulated a long list of crimes. The one that most evidences the power of the organization; the kidnapping and murder of a Venezuelan opponent who was found buried under a layer of cement. Not only because of the cruelty, but because of the diplomatic crisis it opened between countries. Cells of the Mara Salvatrucha, with a historic presence in El Salvador, have sought new alliances in Mexico, causing a serious threat on the southern border. The expansion strategy of the Primeiro Comando da Capital of Brazil is turning the group into the most dangerous in all of South America, like a parallel power within the States. These criminal actors have demonstrated their evident capacity to cross borders and corrupt institutions in Latin America. But they aspire to more. To make the definitive leap to Europe, taking advantage of migration routes. And they see in Spain, which perceives the phenomenon with maximum alert, an opportunity to start, although the National Police intends to make it difficult for them.

Is the conflict between the countryside and the city a breeding ground for votes for the far right? Some data would support rural unease: an aging and masculinized world, with a large demographic void in which one in five children under 13 is of foreign origin.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso completed seven years at the head of the Community of Madrid on Friday at the peak of her political power. When she was sworn in as president on August 14, 2019, she needed the votes of Ciudadanos to push forward a coalition government that was already expected to be turbulent. Seven years later, she has absorbed the now-defunct orange party, reduced Vox – an indispensable partner in the 2021 elections – to irrelevance, and achieved an absolute majority in 2023 that allows her to govern without negotiating with anyone. The political phenomenon built around her figure seemed to have reached the status of an impregnable regime.

Spain has a certain tendency towards atypical borders. The municipality of Llívia or the border by turns — six months French, six Spanish — of the Island of the Pheasants, between Irún and Hendaye are two good examples. In this line, Spanish geography has the curious honor of hosting the shortest border in the world. It is barely 85 meters of sand that separate Spain and Morocco on African land due to the Spanish possession of the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera.

The Government began early in the week to take seriously, following alerts from intelligence services that had managed to camouflage themselves in social media groups, the possibility of a mass crossing attempt in Ceuta, which Morocco ended up stopping yesterday. The various ministries affected by the migration issue set the machinery in motion to send the message, knowing full well that it is impossible to fulfill, that anyone who enters Spain irregularly will be expelled. An intense week, with a carousel of ministers visiting Ceuta, in which Moncloa has raised its tone on migration matters, juggling not to upset Morocco. The objectives of the plan, summarized in five points: that the avalanche of late July does not repeat (achieved yesterday) and that the largest number of immigrants remaining in Ceuta leave (still to be achieved).