Política

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).

The Alaouite kingdom has demonstrated this Saturday its control over the border that separates Morocco and Spain in Ceuta. After intensifying surveillance near the El Tarajal breakwater, where just over half a month ago at least 141 people drowned or were crushed, according to humanitarian organizations, a strong operation has blocked the passage of hundreds of sub-Saharan Africans who intended to irregularly reach the autonomous city. The thousands of gendarmes, with the help of speedboats, helicopters, drones, and dogs, have charged against the immigrants, even using tear gas. While the people of Ceuta held their breath for fear of a new avalanche, Morocco has reported, by the dozens, the people it was arresting for trying to cross into Spain: 111 migrants at 2:30 p.m.; 148 an hour later; almost 300 past 6:00 p.m…

Morocco has ordered this Saturday, without offering further explanations, the journalists from EFE and TVE sent to Fnideq (the former Castillejos, southwest of Ceuta,) to leave the town, where they are covering the situation in the border area.

Morocco is demonstrating its control at the border with Spain by blocking the passage of hundreds of sub-Saharan Africans trying to approach the El Tarajal breakwater, through which more than 70,000 people entered two weeks ago with the permissiveness, at that time, of Rabat. Police sources tell La Vanguardia that this time the Alaouite kingdom is cooperating to prevent the new attempt at a mass crossing, encouraged in recent days on social networks, from succeeding. Ceuta, which has not yet returned to normal, is holding its breath with the fear that the avalanche will repeat, seeing how the autonomous city woke up this holiday August 15 with an unprecedented police deployment.