It has taken 25 days since the massive arrival of 80,000 people in Ceuta for the Government to announce that this Tuesday a “single command” will be created to address the migration crisis, a measure that the autonomous city government has been demanding from the beginning. The first vice president, Carlos Cuerpo, justified the delay with the argument that now it has moved “to a broader phase” in which “it is no longer just about security elements” and in which “it is increasingly important to strengthen coordination among all competent authorities.”
In this way, the person in charge of the emergency will become the head of the Territorial Policy portfolio, Ángel Víctor Torres, who will lead a specialized committee that will include the regional president, Juan Jesús Vivas, the Government delegate, Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano, members of the CNI, and all the involved ministers. It will also have the advice of the National Security Department.
According to Cuerpo, the creation of the single command will mean “a before and after” in the management of immigrants who remain in Ceuta, whose exact number the central government still does not provide, because “it will make repatriation, in those cases where necessary, as fast as possible.” Likewise, he indicated that it will speed up the reception of “minors and people entitled to asylum.”
Additionally, the first vice president has announced the joint and immediate implementation of an extraordinary expansion of the Socioeconomic Integral Development Plan that the central and Ceuta governments promoted in 2022 to “respond to the current exceptional situation.” What he has not detailed is the additional amount of a measure with which more than 180 million euros have been “mobilized” in four years.
As Cuerpo has detailed, the priority axes of the plan’s expansion will be “to strengthen urban and border security”; “to reinforce” public services and “revitalize” the business fabric and “manage returns and provide solutions to the migrants present in the city.” The only figure he has specified is that this Monday the number of unaccompanied foreign minors who have been registered already amounts to more than 2,900.
“The Government is going to put all necessary resources at the disposal of the institutions and the citizens of Ceuta, thus reaffirming our commitment to the security, sovereignty, and prosperity of Ceuta. Ceuta is a border territory, but its citizens must feel the State as we do those of us on the Peninsula,” emphasized the Economy minister as well.
Furthermore, Moncloa’s number two expressed his “gratitude to President Vivas and his team for their willingness to advance and participate in these initiatives.” According to him, both administrations will define in the coming days the shock measures to “improve the conditions” of entrepreneurs, self-employed workers, and employees of the autonomous city “so that they can be presented and approved as soon as possible.”
