The demonstrations in support of Ceuta called by the Federation of Municipalities and Provinces – chaired by the PP – were held this Wednesday in the main Spanish capitals as well as in Ceuta, where thousands of people marched towards the border with Morocco in protest of the situation. These protests, initially called in support of the autonomous city and held in more than 700 locations across Spain, turned into an outcry against the central Government’s handling of this migratory crisis that has lasted more than a month, with PP and Vox being the main protagonists.
Read more “Organizers” on the ground: men, with discreet clothing and no flip-flops
Coinciding with Ceuta Day, thousands of people demonstrated through the streets of the autonomous city, in a mobilization under the slogan ‘Ceuta is not for sale, Ceuta is defended’, which began at the Patio de Armas of the Royal Walls to walk through the streets of the city center until reaching the doors of the Autonomous Palace, where a manifesto was read conveying a message of unity and defense of Ceuta, as well as demanding a response to the circumstances it is going through.
The participants, including city residents and representatives of various groups, carried numerous flags of Ceuta and Spain, which filled the streets. According to local media, this was the most massive demonstration in its recent history.
Feijóo and Abascal attended the Cibeles gathering in Madrid
But the gatherings were also held in other major cities in the country, such as Madrid and Barcelona. The one in Madrid was especially massive and included the participation of the PP leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and the Vox leader, Santiago Abascal.
In Madrid, a gathering was also held in front of the Congress of Deputies, called by Ceutan citizens to which far-right members joined. Some tense moments were experienced there without major consequences.
Also in the capital, a gathering was held under the slogan “Let’s stop racism,” called in Callao square by social groups and alternative left organizations as a response to the mobilizations promoted by the right. There, attendees chanted slogans against racism and xenophobia and demanded a response to the crisis in the autonomous city that does not make the migrant population the target of political backlash.
The Callao mobilization was supported by Podemos, Anticapitalistas, and trade union and student organizations, and it also included criticism of the Government for its handling of the crisis and, in particular, for its return policy. The crossing of this gathering with the one at Cibeles raised tensions at times, although no notable incidents were recorded.
Read more Document | A two-phase assault: young people in wetsuits and families in flip-flops
Among the attendees were the leader of Podemos, Ione Belarra; the MEP of the purple party, Irene Montero; and the deputies of Izquierda Unida Enrique Santiago, Nahuel González, and Félix Alonso, who came to support the mobilization.
Low turnout at the Barcelona gathering
In the case of Catalonia, gatherings were held in the squares of town halls governed by the PP: Badalona and Castelldefels. The one in Barcelona, held in Sant Jaume square, had a large police cordon from the Mossos that had to divide the public space in two, to host on one side the demonstration called by PP and Vox and, on the other, the antifascist gathering called by the Unitat Contra el Feixisme i el Racisme (UCFR). No incidents were recorded either. Barely a few hundred on each side gathered in the central Barcelona square.
Other Spanish cities, such as Valencia, also gathered thousands of people in front of the City Hall to defend that “Ceuta is not alone, but is and will always be Spain” and to call for the resignation of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez.
The event was presided over by the president of the Generalitat, Juanfran Pérez Llorca; the city mayor, María José Catalá; and the president of the Valencia Provincial Council, Vicent Mompó, while gatherings were also held in Alicante and Castelló de la Plana, as well as in other cities of the Comunitat. Towns governed by the socialists, such as Gandia, Sagunto, and L’Eliana, also held acts in support of the autonomous city.
The call in front of Madrid City Hall was surrounded by controversy after the Government Delegation in the community stated in a resolution that the City Council could not organize a demonstration but opened the door to hold the gathering if it was dressed as an institutional act. The confusion generated by the resolution, which was interpreted by the PP as a prohibition, provoked the angry complaint of the right, which accused the Government of trying to sabotage the call.
On the contrary, the Government delegate, Francisco Martín, accused the popular party of trying “to confuse, deceive, spread rumors and misinformation to generate more noise and tarnish gatherings against which we have nothing.” Martín clarified this Wednesday that the gatherings called for this Wednesday in front of City Halls in the region in support of Ceuta “comply with the law.”
