Ceuta: a bad management that has led to internal shock

BarcelonaAlmost a month later, the Ceuta crisis is not only far from being resolved, but has also led to an unprecedented internal clash within the executive between Margarita Robles, Minister of Defense and head of the CNI, and Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Minister of the Interior and in charge of border surveillance. The former defended the CNI's role in the entire crisis on Tuesday, stating that they did verbally warn the Spanish government delegation of an increase in immigrant entries, without specifying the magnitude, however. The latter, on the other hand, insists that no one warned them of what was coming around July 30 – when around 70,000 people swam into Ceuta – and even less so in writing. The government delegation in Ceuta even issued a statement on Tuesday to deny the minister, and this Wednesday, minister Ángel Víctor Torres, who holds the sole command of the crisis, has aligned himself with Marlaska, thus leaving Robles in a very delicate position within the executive. The spokesperson for the PSOE in Congress, Patxi López, has tried to downplay the internal crisis, stating that

On Tuesday, Robles made a political tightrope walk to save the CNI's honor, but the truth is that at this moment we do not know exactly what information the intelligence services had and what they transmitted to the authorities. Therefore, it is urgent that the Official Secrets Commission be convened and that the director of the CNI, Esperanza Casteleiro, who we recall replaced Paz Esteban after the Pegasus scandal, appear before it. If, as it seems, the CNI was not capable of anticipating the massive entry of immigrants despite the calls circulating on social networks, Casteleiro should assume responsibility and put her position at disposal. And if they knew and did not transmit the information, it would be even more serious. And if they did and the Ministry of the Interior did not take any measures, then Grande-Marlaska should be the one to resign. Be that as it may, responsibilities must be clarified in a crisis that is putting Pedro Sánchez's government on the ropes and weakening its international standing.

For its part, the PP is also not having a much better performance in all of this. Its calls for the express return of immigrants remaining in Ceuta are demagoguery, because everyone knows the law does not allow it. Its refusal to host unaccompanied minors in other autonomous communities directly harms the citizens of Ceuta, who are forced to bear the burden of the humanitarian crisis alone. And, finally, the threat from the Ceuta president, Juan Manuel Vivas, not to allow sports centers to be used to host immigrants is a display of the worst populism, breaking with a hitherto exemplary political trajectory. One can be very critical of Pedro Sánchez's management of the crisis, but not everything goes to get him out of Moncloa.