The leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, already spoke yesterday of “occupation” when referring to the flood of people who entered Ceuta last Thursday. But, this Saturday, and already on the ground, the president of the PP went a step further by defining the crisis faced by the autonomous city: “What has happened here is not just another incident: it is a premeditated and unprecedented occupation of Spanish territory.”
The popular leader has criticized the Government for its management of the situation, pointing out that there has been a “triple failure”: in migration policy, security, and foreign affairs. And on this last point, Feijóo has elaborated, looking at the relationship with Morocco, despite the Government’s insistence on praising the good cooperation that has existed with the neighboring country throughout the crisis.
“It is essential to clarify what has failed in cooperation with Morocco,” said the president of the PP, pointing out that the flood of entries into Ceuta “should not have happened and cannot happen again.” In this regard, Feijóo has maintained that “Spain wants and must maintain a relationship with Morocco based on mutual respect, cooperation, and good neighborliness,” but he warned that “every good relationship between States requires reciprocity, transparency, and good faith.” “Collaboration cannot depend on circumstances. It must be permanent, loyal, and effective,” the popular leader emphasized, just a couple of hours after the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, described the cooperation with Morocco in this crisis as “effective and loyal.”
“Spain must fulfill its obligations and has the right to demand that those who share with us the responsibility of protecting this border also fulfill their own obligations,” insisted the leader of the opposition, who also claimed that “the territorial integrity of Spain is not negotiable, it is defended.” “There are things that should not be done, and when these things are done, they must have a strong response,” Feijóo stressed, considering it “legitimate” for citizens to wonder if Morocco did not put enough interest into stopping the departures.
At the same time, the popular president also hinted at some suspicion regarding the prior knowledge the Executive had about what later happened in Ceuta. “We have the right to have the Government tell us if, knowing what was going to happen, why it did not act,” Feijóo reproached, although at the same time he questioned whether the Executive “had knowledge, as it seems to indicate, for days [of] that an invasion and occupation of this nature was going to occur.”
“Yesterday the president of the Government said he was caught by surprise. I do not believe it,” Feijóo insisted, “I do not believe that all the intelligence services of my country failed.” The leader of the opposition considers it “impossible not to know” that a mass of 50,000 people was heading to cross the border in Ceuta, and he also stressed that the president of Ceuta, Vivas, asked several days ago “for the means to be reinforced in the face of the avalanche that was going to occur in the city.”
All in all, for Feijóo the response given by the Government to the migratory crisis in Ceuta has been “late and insufficient.” “Even ridiculous in a way,” he added, referring to the fact that it was not until this morning that containment barriers were installed in the Ceuta sea to stop arrivals and circumvent the jurisprudence issued a month ago by the Supreme Court – which prohibited hot returns in cases of entries by swimming, considering that without overcoming physical barriers, this option is not covered by the Immigration Law -. “If buoys are valid now, why were they not put much earlier?” Feijóo questioned.