Sumar and the main Government partners dismantle the official discourse of Pedro Sánchez and the socialist part of the Executive that Morocco has no responsibility whatsoever in the massive entry of 72,000 immigrants in Ceuta. And they have done so with forcefulness and devastating phrases to directly accuse Rabat of perpetrating an “attack” and a “destabilization operation” against Spain and to reproach the Executive that the response it is giving to something so serious is to “lie” or look the other way.
This position of Sánchez’s allies reinforces the Government’s loneliness on this issue and, in turn, exposes that the criticisms of the management of the crisis and the current situation of the thousands of immigrants who still remain in Ceuta are cross-cutting and majority in Congress.
The fracture is even within the coalition Government itself. Sumar has unleashed harsh criticism, led by Izquierda Unida, which for the first time in the entire legislature has taken the floor in a debate with Sánchez to confront the official discourse and to be able to express its reproaches to the subsequent management of the situation. “Spain has suffered an attack from Morocco, using vulnerable people,” emphasized Enrique Santiago, who proclaimed that “a destabilization operation with clear political and geostrategic intentions” has taken place and that “it has nothing to do with people trafficking mafias.”
“Morocco, in coordination with the United States and Israel, has organized the massive entry of 80,000 people. Defending another hypothesis is not credible,” fired the IU parliamentary spokesperson against the official version defended by Sánchez. Therefore, he demanded to summon “immediately” the Moroccan ambassador to demand “explanations” about “the attack of July 30” and that the King call Mohamed VI to do the same.
Santiago was even more pointed with the management of the situation. “Mr. President, action was taken late, without sizing up the humanitarian crisis or its political consequences. It took a month to convene the National Security Council and the unified command,” he said, recalling that Antonio Maíllo asked for it on August 8. Likewise, he denounced that the Government’s “strategy” has been to “wait” for those who entered Ceuta to return voluntarily and that no solutions have been given to the thousands of people who have stayed. “They are not blond with blue eyes, nor are they all Christians, but they have human rights that our rule of law must protect,” he reproached.
The Sumar deputy criticized the Government for giving credence to the idea that all immigrants will be returned. “That will not happen. The Government must stop defending impossible solutions that strengthen the strategy of the PP and Vox to prolong the crisis,” he said. Therefore, he demanded Sánchez to urgently transfer the 8,000 people remaining in Ceuta to the peninsula, because “there are available places,” because the city cannot take charge, and because Morocco will not accept returns.
“We ask you for a sensible and brave measure,” he insisted, to ensure that the rights of immigrants are respected while the administrative procedures for their expulsion or reception last.
Aina Vidal, from Comunes, also took the floor in Sumar, reproaching Sánchez for stopping “tricking us” because everyone “has seen the images” and understands that Morocco “must give explanations.” “Don’t ask us to pretend we haven’t seen anything,” “Morocco’s appeasement policy has failed.”
Rufián: “I accuse Morocco of sending 80,000 people”
In the chapter of parliamentary partners, ERC, one of the most loyal to Sánchez, warned Sánchez that governments “get lost by lying” and recalled what happened to the PP with 11-M, “saving the distances,” to conclude that “what is happening now is unsustainable.”
And what is unsustainable, according to Gabriel Rufián, is Morocco’s exculpatory narrative. “I do not criticize Morocco for not controlling 80,000 people at its border. I accuse Morocco of sending 80,000 people to its border to bring down the Government of Spain with the collaboration of Washington, Tel Aviv and yes, the right and the other Spanish police and judicial right. And, of course, Mohamed VI is a murderer.”
Rufián accused the Executive of being “pusillanimous” with Morocco and of trying to place an exculpatory narrative that is “an insult to intelligence.” “This is an attack,” he stressed, in which people were used “as cannon fodder.” “They handed over the Sahara,” he warned, “and now they are handing over their dignity.”
Junts sees Sánchez as “disqualified from continuing to govern”
Junts, the Government partner that is already furthest from Sánchez, did not spare criticism this Thursday of the management of the Ceuta crisis. “Either he knew the warnings and therefore lies to protect Morocco, or he did not know these warnings and lies when he says he has control of the Government and national security,” the neoconvergent spokesperson Miriam Nogueras addressed the president, outlining these as the only two “possible” scenarios. “Both options are very serious and disqualify him from continuing to govern,” the leader concluded.
As other Sánchez partners had done, the Junts spokesperson also questioned the Government’s stance regarding Morocco’s role in what happened. Questioning the change of stance on the Sahara – she hinted that Sánchez ends the legislature, “after a few Pegasus, defending the interests of the King of Morocco” – Nogueras invited the socialists to “reflect on who is capable of having control of the Spanish Government.” “Because it is obvious that you are not.”
PNV: “It is implausible that Morocco is exonerated”
After what happened in Ceuta, Nogueras again demanded from the Executive the delegation of migration powers to Catalonia, something that the PNV spokesperson, Maribel Vaquero, has also done, speaking of the Basque Country’s “right” to “manage” its policy in this area.
The jeltzale leader, for her part and in line with the increasingly critical tone towards Sánchez that her party has raised in recent months, accused the Government of “not having seen the massive entry to Ceuta coming” and of “arriving late.” Sánchez, in particular, was accused of being “absent” for four weeks and was left a message: “You cannot go around the world as if you were the last samurai, because it may happen that no one follows behind you.”
The PNV also agrees with Sánchez’s partners in pointing to Rabat’s role in what happened. “It is implausible that Morocco is exonerated from all responsibility. It had to either collaborate or at least look the other way,” Vaquero said, for whom the neighboring country “is not trustworthy, unlike what [the Government] verbalizes.”
Bildu says the Government’s response “has also not been up to par”
From EH Bildu, spokesperson Mertxe Aizpurua accused the “reactionary rights” of taking advantage of the migration crisis to generate “hate,” “confrontation,” and “tension” for political purposes. “For the Spanish right, victims, migrants, and Ceutans matter little,” she said while claiming that the Basque Country “is a welcoming people” that “will welcome these people and minors, out of solidarity and humanity.” The spokesperson defended that the Basque Country is capable of assuming all migration powers to develop its own “Basque model” based on human rights and democratic values.
Aizpurua also criticized Sánchez and the management of the crisis, considering that more than a month later, the situation in Ceuta remains unresolved. “Certainly, the response, both European and from the right in this State, has been disastrous. But neither has your government been up to par,” criticized the Basque leader. In her view, a migration policy based on rights and not on a “securitarian and exclusionary” vision is required.
For Aizpurua, “the United States and Israel, with Morocco as their executor, have achieved what they wanted,” using both Sánchez and his government as “scapegoats for this whole strategy.”
Compromís has also emphasized that it does not understand why Sánchez is defending Morocco after using its citizens as a “weapon” against Spain. However, Àgueda Micó has been sharp with the management of the crisis. She reproached the Government for arriving “late and badly,” not wanting to “assume responsibility” by declaring a state of alarm, and preferring to “hide” since it happened far from Madrid. That is why she spoke of a “feeling of abandonment,” just like before in Valencia due to the DANA.
For its part, the BNG has criticized the Government because it “surrenders” to Morocco and the “satrap” despite the “evidence,” but any “minimum analysis” shows that there are also countries favored by this crisis, such as the US and Israel.
Read more Two intelligence reports warned Robles and Marlaska of a «massive entry» and an «immediate collapse»
