Alberto Núñez Feijóo: “Morocco’s aggression continues and Ceuta will be Sánchez’s epitaph”

Alberto Núñez Feijóo faces the start of the term with a dual agenda. On one hand, he is focused on the state crisis unfolding in Ceuta, which he directly blames on Morocco. In fact, he asserts that the Moroccan aggression against Spanish integrity still “continues.” On the other hand, he has already started the countdown to the most crucial general elections of recent decades and wants to begin decoding the “profound change” he proposes for Spain. He promises to “rebuild” society, restore the independence of institutions, and recover the middle class. A huge task, the greatest and most significant, in his view, since the Transition. Therefore, he does not want to wait until the spring of 2027 and calls on PSOE partners to hasten the end of the legislature. Why? Because “Ceuta is the epitaph of Pedro Sánchez.”

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Feijóo, who turned 65 on Thursday – “I believe it is a guarantee that I am not here to advance myself, but to serve” -, promises “boldness” to undertake deep and structural reforms if he reaches La Moncloa. He also guarantees that he will “amplify” the work of the King. As a declaration of intent, a book about Felipe VI now presides over the main desk in his office on the seventh floor of Génova, 13.

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On Friday, the PP issued a statement claiming that the Ceuta crisis is the result of a “hybrid attack.” By whom?

Certainly, the only possibility we have, even knowing that information is missing, is that it is Morocco. By action or omission. Morocco knew about these movements, was aware of their impact, and did not prevent them. Obviously, the shared responsibility comes from our side: Spain knew not just the risk, but that this was going to happen. It was more than a potential risk. And it did not prevent it either. Therefore, I reiterate: by action or omission, Morocco facilitated the breach of our border and the violation of our territorial integrity. And Spain, still without knowing why, allowed before, during, and even now, that our integrity is not restored. If Morocco does not accept the return, the aggression continues. And, in my opinion, Morocco’s aggression is ongoing.

You have suggested that Morocco may have information obtained from Sánchez’s phone that explains his inaction. Do you believe the president is conditioned in this regard by Morocco? Do you have any proof?

Ceuta is the epitaph of this stage of Sánchez, where it is proven that his personal interests and personal situation are above the integrity of our country’s sovereignty. There is no other explanation. It is impossible to find a reasonably rational explanation that does not go through this. Sánchez has chosen to discredit, with a reputational impact on our image, the Intelligence services of our country and the State Security Forces and Corps, so it is evident that there must be a very personal reason that prevents him from freely defending what he must defend. Morocco defends Morocco. The PP defends Spain. And whom does Sánchez’s Government defend?

You use the term “blackmail.”

I find it very plausible.

What do you think about the declassification of secret documents about the state crisis in Ceuta?

Since his narrative has not worked, [Sánchez] tries to derive from these documents that the CNI or the Foreigners Police Precinct did not warn in detail, but even this has gotten out of hand. The Intelligence services are very uncomfortable because all – and I say all – other services in the world have seen this. Now they know how Intelligence works in our country, what the communication channels to the authorities are, what they informed the Moroccan authorities, which other services collaborated… This, in a normal country, would lead to the immediate dismissal of the minister or even the president who allows it.

You mean the declassification opens a security breach.

Without any doubt! It has opened a security breach and an alteration of the image and prestige of the country’s Intelligence services. They have been left at the mercy of the wolves.

Has the Government’s shift on Western Sahara failed? If you govern, will you reverse that shift?

To know what the shift consists of, it is necessary to reach the Government, because Sánchez has hidden it. He never gave me information. Second: we will take it to the Cortes. I had a meeting with the Moroccan prime minister and he asked me the same question. I answered: “Look, for me, Morocco is not just a foreign country. For me, it is my neighbor, along with France, the most strategic, and, out of loyalty that this future relationship deserves, I cannot confirm that I commit to consolidating what you have agreed with Sánchez.” I reminded him that this is a pact with Sánchez, not with Spain.

It seems that the statement from the Moroccan Foreign Minister, criticizing the PP, is a warning to your possible future Government not to reverse the position on the Sahara. Do you see it that way? Does it affect you?

It does not affect me, I am a candidate for the presidency of the Government free. I have no commitments other than the general interests, no other goal than to defend my country. From there, Rabat knows, because I have conveyed it through the appropriate channels, that I am a reliable person, that I will not lie to them, that I will be loyal to the agreements and that with that same loyalty I will be firm in defending the territorial integrity of my country.

Does that “loyalty” include maintaining that your first trip will be to Morocco?

Yes.

Therefore, you do not see breaking relations with Morocco, as Isabel Díaz Ayuso has proposed, as a good idea.

The impression I have at this moment is that I do not think that is what interests Spain the most. And I know that Morocco is not only measuring the Government. It is also measuring the alternative.

If you reach La Moncloa, what will be your red line with Mohamed VI?

The first is that the territorial integrity and sovereignty of my country are not attacked. It is common sense.

We will celebrate a World Cup with Morocco. Are you in favor? If the final is in Morocco, should Spain abandon the organization?

I do not contemplate the possibility that this happens. They want to take away from Spain what it already has. That is not possible.

Returning to the warnings from the secret services, we now know that at 9:34 p.m. on July 29, the CNI already warned that there was a crowd waiting to enter Ceuta. Would you have deployed the Army that same night?

The first thing is to pick up the phone and call Morocco. Say: “I ask you that each one controls their border.” And take command. And if there is no information and commitment [from Morocco], I would activate article [8] of the Constitution, which says that it is the responsibility of the Armed Forces to guarantee the territorial integrity of the country. Of course I would, because more than a thousand people were entering Ceuta in the previous days. Even more so with the precedent of 2021.

Deploying the Army implies assuming the risk of casualties.

The Army knows what it has to do in a situation like this. The Army is an absolutely hierarchical organization trained to avoid it. And I leave it at that. I honestly believe that if those who ordered to plan and direct this invasion had known that the Spanish Army awaited them at the border, this would have been aborted.

If you had been president, what decisions would you have made to immediately restore territorial integrity?

First, go to Ceuta within hours. Second, stay in Ceuta as long as necessary and exercise unified command. Third, insist on my diplomatic activity with the Moroccan head of Government and the head of State. Fourth, activate my partners immediately and not avoid them.

Among the decisions you would have made is also the endorsement of a visit by the King?

Without any doubt. The head of State has constitutional functions that I will not only maintain but try to amplify in the most favorable interpretation. The head of State is underutilized and King Felipe VI today is one of the great assets in international politics of our country and, moreover, is the highest responsible of the Army. I would never sideline him, never put him in a secondary place and, of course, I would propose that he visit this Spanish city. I think it is a moment to visit Ceuta, as when we have a disaster in the dana or when we have a problem with fires. Listen, is there a dana or a fire greater than this?

Do you think the Executive is using the Ceuta crisis to sustain a confrontation with the Crown?

I would not dare to say so much, but what I do say is that the president of the Government has not been respectful of the competencies of the head of State, and I believe that the National Security Council should be chaired by the head of State.

Would you have declared a state of exception or any other constitutional figure at the time of the assault that would have allowed the immediate return of immigrants who were in Ceuta illegally?

Look, I reiterate frankness in conversations with Morocco. Morocco reiterates that it is willing to accept all returnees and requests all minors to return them to their families.

If the Government wants to distribute the immigrant minors from Ceuta among the autonomous communities governed by the PP, would they not be accepted?

This is not a refugee problem, but an invasion, so only the return of absolutely all immigrants and all minors is possible. We will not accept the transfer of minors from Ceuta to the Peninsula. The supreme interest of the minor is to return to their family.

If you were in charge of the Government, what would you do to return them?

Since August, I proposed three shifts of foreign affairs officials stationed in Ceuta: 24 hours a day to identify people who are irregular and pass that information to Morocco. Why has it not been done? And the Foreigners Law, the Asylum Law, and the Nationality Law must be changed. For immediate return, yes.

Should the EU assume the defense of Ceuta as a southern border?

In Parliament, in the groups that make up Parliament, the commissioners, the president of the Commission… the whole EU must know that Ceuta is as important as Greenland. We Europeanize the conflict in defense of the Spanishness of Ceuta and Melilla and the respect that Europe must have for its own borders.

Should Von der Leyen also go to Ceuta, just like to Greenland?

Certainly, if I were president of the Government, I would tell Von der Leyen and the Defense commissioner to accompany me to Ceuta.

Morocco is a strategic ally of the US and Israel. In a crisis like Ceuta’s, what should Spain demand from Washington and Tel Aviv?

Simply demand the minimum principles of loyalty between two States. Second, obviously I would not put my international relations in favor of my national balances or my partisan interests. The international relations of a country are not what interests the president of the Government of the moment, but what interests the country. Mr. Sánchez has confronted not the Israeli Government, but the Israeli State. However, I do not agree with statements from some Israeli diplomats.

On Thursday, the chargé d’affaires of Israel in Madrid, Dana Erlich, was asked if her country recognizes the sovereignty of Ceuta, and she replied that Spain has “control.”

We have contacted some Israeli authority to speak very clearly when we saw the first statements in this regard, which were from a diplomat at the UN. We were answered saying that they were individual statements and do not bind the Israeli Government.

José María Aznar pointed out on Thursday that “alienating the friendship of relevant allies” like Israel has consequences. Do you agree? Do you think it was about Ceuta?

I do not think so. I say that defaming an entire people, not distinguishing the Government from the State, and saying that the Israeli people is a genocidal people… We would never accept being told that we are an indecent country. Spain is hostage to a personalist project of a politician who does not distinguish institutions, does not distinguish the State, the Government, the Cortes, the Judiciary… It is like a kind of absolutist regime and that is why sometimes he does not understand the role of the Crown as an arbitrator.

On Wednesday, Tellado said that “the CIA warned the CNI.” What data do you have?

Tellado echoed information given on a television program by Spanish journalists. We do not have that information.

You have predicted that Sánchez “will pay before Justice or at the polls” for his management of the crisis generated by the migratory avalanche over Ceuta. What judicial responsibility do you think the president has?

As we learn the reports from the Intelligence services and the Foreigners Police Precinct, etc., we observe that there are responsibilities here. In this whole crisis, a Moncloa press officer and the chief of staff of the Government delegate in Ceuta have resigned. And the chief of staff has resigned because what the Government is saying does not correspond to the truth, because he warned the delegate of the information passed on by the CNI and the delegate ignored it. Therefore, of course there are responsibilities: the Government delegate, the Interior Minister, the Defense Minister, and the Foreign Minister. Their responsibility is to follow the instructions of the president of the Government. I believe there is negligence in not giving importance to all the warnings they received.

And could Pedro Sánchez’s judicial responsibility even escalate to the crime of treason?

Those are big words, because that requires intent and willfulness. Therefore, with the information we have at this moment, I cannot make that statement.

How do you analyze the Supreme Court’s action on the grandchildren’s law?

What the Supreme Court has done is take note of the deliberation of the Electoral Board and conclude, by the hierarchy of norms, that an instruction cannot amplify the object of a law. It is false that someone is being deprived of the right to vote. They never had it! Never. That is how far the Government’s manipulation goes. The Government’s reaction has been so furious that I reiterate what I said and was criticized for: there was an electoral engineering decision. I am not against granting nationality to a grandchild. What I cannot accept is granting nationality to anyone who had a Spanish ancestor at the beginning of the 20th century.

You have gone from trying to govern without Vox to accepting that Santiago Abascal is part of a Government with the PP. Has Vox changed or has the Popular Party changed?

Certainly the PP has not changed because I am the president. The task of the next Government in Spain is immense. It is probably the most difficult Government since Adolfo Suárez’s. It is not only about Spain functioning, but about Spain respecting itself again and being respected in the world again. That task needs a very strong, very solid Government. If I can convince citizens, a single-party PP Government would be the best option. But I will not demonize the third force. We always said we would provide stability and accept the election results. We will not make any hooded agreement like Sánchez’s with Bildu.

How do you ensure that you, and not Abascal, will set the political direction on issues like immigration, the autonomous state, or Europe?

In most Vox deputies, there is more sense of State than in most who support the Government. Including all of PSOE. I do not believe there are four million fascists in Spain. A head of Government has responsibilities. If I disagree with an appointment, I cannot sign it. If I disagree with a legislative project, neither.

What you are saying is that there are limits. What are they?

The limit is the framework we have established. If Vox enters the Government, we would have to update it. Does our migration policy differ from Vox’s? Yes. Totally? No. Partially? Yes. My background in autonomous matters is clear. I will not go against my own biography. I do believe in autonomous communities. What I do not believe in is how they are functioning now nor in the grievances between CCAAs, nor in how the Government is leading its financing to a dead end.

You have been explaining for many years why Sánchez should not govern. And what does your alternative consist of?

The first thing Spain needs is to regain confidence in itself, in having a decent, reliable president, in having a Government composed of solid people and not Twitter amateurs. In Spain regaining prominence in the world and becoming an ally of its allies again. The Government must rest on three pillars. First, that of the common nation. Second, the restoration of institutions. And third, the reconstruction of the State. A common nation is one that forgets grievances and creates shared citizenship. It is time to embrace again among the citizens of our country. Let the politicians who use 5% of the votes to impose their views on 95% end. The restoration of institutions means that the Government party frees them from its ownership…

If you had to summarize the decisions you would adopt in your first two councils of ministers, what would they be?

In the first month, we can present to Spain the level of economic, social, labor, and institutional disaster derived from an audit of the institutions and accounts. And during the first 100 days, we must specify measures to alleviate the acute crisis we will face. We must reverse the fiscal hell, slim down the Government, restore our international alliances, and guarantee the utmost decency of the Government.

All candidates have promised regeneration and all have disappointed. Why should we believe you?

Because I have not just arrived, I am a politician with traceability and my political discourse is my biography. I have been managing public affairs for 30 years. Neither I nor the people I have appointed in my governments have ever sat on a bench. Never. Every time I have had elections, I have improved the results of the previous ones. Yesterday [Thursday] I turned 65. It is a guarantee that I am not here to advance myself, but to serve. I have no career to build nor a later exit to prolong. I do not aspire to manage the decline of my country. I aspire to manage the profound change my country needs. From the first minute. I can assure you that my only ambition is to improve my country. I have no other. Unite Spaniards, rebuild the values of a free society, and improve my country’s prosperity.

Which of the powers that Sánchez has accumulated will you renounce?

I will not do a right-wing sanchism. I will present the Budget every year. I will accept an extension. Once that extension ends, if I do not get Budgets, I will call elections. Second, there will be a Debate on the state of the Nation every year. Third, I will meet with the opposition leader at least once a year. Fourth, I will attend control sessions so the Legislative controls me. I will not use royal decree laws due to my inability to legislate. And institutions will be credible.

The previous PP Government came with similar promises.

I will not be responsible for what was not done in previous governments of my party. I have the best relationships with presidents Aznar and Rajoy, but I am neither Aznar nor Rajoy. Judge me by what I do, judge me by what I have done. After so many years in significant public bodies and as president of an autonomous community for so long, I will not reinvent myself. I am not a cardboard politician. I am not a social media politician. I will not say pretty words on TikTok. No, listen. What is my political project? My biography. I know the management of public affairs. Yes, I have won all the elections I have run for. Yes, I have limits, of course. I believe the word is the greatest asset of a politician. I have never had any problems with Justice. I am the opposition leader after winning the first elections I ran for. When I arrived at this office, we had 89 seats and today we have 137 and an absolute majority in the Senate. We had three or four autonomous communities and today we govern in 12. This is my record. Sometimes you cannot fulfill something because there is no boldness to fulfill it and other times because circumstances prevent it.

And will you have the boldness to lead a real change as demanded by Spanish society?

If I were not sure I have it, we would not be doing this interview. Of course I have it. Not only do I have it, I have done it. I know that the most difficult moment of my life will be this one, if citizens give me their trust. The experience accumulated over all these years is a guarantee to know what I have to do and the impact it will have. I will do it.

You asked the Community of Madrid for explanations about the penthouse. Do you find the explanations given by the president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, sufficient?

Yes, I maintain what I said. If there is a politician persecuted with the entire Government apparatus, it is Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Madrid loves Ayuso and Ayuso loves Madrid. I will never try to surround myself with people to whom I can give orders. I will keep all those who have the votes of the citizens. She has given explanations, has proven that this purchase responded to the need, previously known by me, to change the presidency office of the Community.

The question is: what would the PP have said if Sánchez made renovations in Moncloa and bought a six-million-euro penthouse?

The other day I saw that the Generalitat of Catalonia wants to buy a headquarters compatible with the residence of its president for 27 million in Madrid. In Sol, remodeling works will be done and the Community bought a property to initially locate the president’s office. These are the facts. I reiterate, Ayuso is a political asset of the Popular Party and the entire State apparatus is behind her.

EL MUNDO published this week the fictitious contract for 15 million that could point to illegal financing of the PSOE. What will happen if the judge indicts the Socialist Party?

The corrupting political link is Sánchez. Without Sánchez, there is no Ábalos. No Cerdán. No sewers. When two judges are studying the financing of the Socialist Party, there are rational indications of illegal financing. In case the judge indicts those behaviors, the Government partners will be left without an alibi to let him fall.

Would that be the way to articulate a motion of no confidence?

All Spain knows that I have been proposing a motion of no confidence for a long time and it will not be for lack of me. The partners have gone from parliamentary support to accomplices of the biggest corruption cases in democratic history. The time has come to tell them that they cannot allow Sánchez to decide when his term ends. The legislature is over and they prolong the agony of a Government on life support.

Sánchez says he will campaign with Zapatero, despite the jewels worth more than 1.3 million euros and despite his delicate judicial situation.

The president of the Government must be very involved to say that Zapatero is still an asset and that he will count on him.

The amnesty, the singular financing, and the bilateral agreements have left a mark of confederal Spain in which there are citizens who can access exceptional conditions compared to others. If you govern, will you reverse it?

That is an example of the president’s submission. He appears to be a free person, with a strong personality, but in the end, he is very submissive to his minority partners, to Venezuela, to Morocco. That the person who designs the financing system, Junqueras, is convicted of embezzlement is a farce. A system is being designed that supervises political quotas and not the costs of public services. It is not from the autonomous communities, its only objective is to prolong the legislature.