The junior partner of the coalition government, Sumar, has clearly distanced itself from the socialist wing and has directly pointed to Morocco, with the collaboration of the United States and Israel, as provoking the massive crossing of the Ceuta border to bring down the government and has demanded the transfer to the Peninsula of the thousands of people, particularly minors, who are still in the autonomous city.
Sumar spokesperson Enrique Santiago, from United Left, described what happened at the end of July as a “Moroccan operation in coordination with Israel and the United States” with “political and geostrategic implications.”
For her part, Aina Vidal, from Comuns, spoke of “powers with different interests,” referring to Morocco, the United States, and Israel, who have “the common interest of bringing down this government and toppling democracy.” “And what won’t they do when elections are called in this country?” she asked.
Vidal warned Sánchez that the “appeasement policy” with Morocco “has failed.” “We warned you when you abandoned the Sahrawi people,” she challenged the Prime Minister, recalling the government’s shift in March 2022 from supporting Western Sahara’s self-determination to backing Morocco’s autonomy plan for the former Spanish colony.
Vidal proposed recovering international law and demanded “explanations” from Rabat, following the police report showing the passivity or active guidance of Moroccan agents, and “a reflection” from Europe, which, in her view, “pays” third countries that “don’t even believe Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish” to monitor their borders. “What a surprise when they don’t respect them afterward!” she snapped.
Regarding the situation in Ceuta, both Santiago and Vidal have called to abandon “impossible solutions” referring to the return to Morocco of migrants still in the autonomous city, especially minors, which for the IU spokesperson only serve to sustain the PP and Vox strategy of “prolonging the crisis.” Both have advocated for their transfer to the Peninsula. In this regard, the Comuns spokesperson urged Alberto Núñez Feijóo to call the PP regional presidents to host the minors, something they refuse. “You have a very powerful key,” she told him, then reproached the PP that “they cannot govern because they are a bunch of racist arsonists and hate traffickers.”
Both Santiago and Vidal accused PP and Vox of not helping in the Ceuta crisis and of stirring hatred against migrants, and both had harsh words against the far-right deputy José María Figaredo, who during the peak of the crisis called to hunt migrants. “You have to be despicable,” Vidal told him, acknowledging that the expression might be removed from the session record. “How far do your lordships want to go? To have someone killed?” she exclaimed angrily after warning that the deputy’s expression is “a way to dehumanize” migrants.
ERC accuses Morocco “of sending 80,000 people as cannon fodder to bring down the government” and reprimands Sánchez
For its part, the parliamentary group of Esquerra Republicana, through its spokesperson Gabriel Rufián, has distributed blame and responsibilities among Morocco, the government, and the opposition. Rufián accused Morocco “of sending 80,000 people as cannon fodder to bring down the government with the collaboration of Washington and Tel Aviv, and yes, the Spanish right, judicial and police.” At the same time, he called the central government “pusillanimous” for continuing to defend that Morocco has no responsibility in the migratory avalanche over Ceuta. The republican leader also called PP and Vox “traitors” because “if the police and judges knew, their police and their judges, you also knew,” referring to alleged police warnings about the massive entry of migrants.
According to Rufián, “the US and Israel cheered what happened in Ceuta,” and Morocco is posing – to Spain – a war they cannot win.” After calling the Moroccan king a “murderer,” the republican warned Sánchez that “governments are lost above all for lying,” recalling the electoral turnaround that occurred in Spain after 9/11 in 2004, and prescribed “order, inclusion, integration, rights and obligations” in the face of the migratory challenge. “Recover legal entry routes” and that “those who entered are treated with dignity and returned swiftly,” he pointed out.
Read more Sánchez rules out blaming Morocco for Ceuta for now but announces a “different” cooperation
Junts asks Sánchez to “step aside” and demands all migration powers for Catalonia
From Junts, spokesperson Míriam Nogueras has again demanded that Sánchez “step aside” so that another socialist leader takes charge of the government until the next general elections. In her view, it is the only way to prevent the far right from reaching the government. But before making this conclusion, the parliamentarian justified the demand based on the Ceuta crisis: “Either he knew the warnings and lies to protect Morocco, or he didn’t know them and lies to the people when he says he has control of national security. Both options are serious and disqualify him from continuing to govern,” she warned.
Nogueras attacked the “management incapacity that crosses all lines” of the current government, which she compared to that of Salvador Illa’s government, and used the immigrant regularization process carried out “without criteria, without control, while the rest of the European countries apply more restrictive measures and more controls,” to justify what happened and demand that Catalonia obtain all migration powers, “We want all the powers, immigration, economic, to do the same as the rest of the countries, control who enters. Guarantee integration (duties and rights) and when necessary, quickly execute expulsion orders. It is about voting on the powers that Madrid now has,” Nogueras summarized.
Bildu regrets that the EU has left Sánchez alone
EH Bildu spokesperson Mertxe Aizpurua also agreed with other left-wing parties that Morocco, the US, and other countries would have promoted the entry of migrants into Ceuta to destabilize the Spanish government and regretted that the European Union (EU) has “left him alone.”
She also reproached Pedro Sánchez’s government for its management not being up to par nor providing the necessary resources on time, while questioning whether information had been hidden from the government or if its ministers had lied about the situation.
She also accused the right, particularly the PP, of instrumentalizing and militarizing a humanitarian crisis to sow hatred, refusing to host migrants in their autonomous communities with the aim of sinking the legislature.
The PNV’s reproach: “They arrived late, there was abandonment, and the Spanish government was not up to the task”
Along the same lines, the Basque group spokesperson, Maribel Vaquero, reproached the president for his “self-complacency”: “They arrived late, there was abandonment, and the Spanish government was not up to the task.”
After recalling the “stormy” historical relationship of the Spanish state with Morocco and the neighbor country’s low “reliability,” Vaquero demanded “managed migration,” addressed from “responsibility” against “constant improvisation and populism,” and demanded migration powers for the Basque Government because it must be “an active part in something that has direct consequences on Euskadi.”
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