Junqueras warns Sánchez that "Catalonia cannot host infinitely"

BarcelonaMore pressure on the Spanish government from its investiture allies. ERC leader Oriol Junqueras has asked the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, this Monday to be "quick and effective" in "resolving" the migratory crisis in Ceuta. And he has set clear limitations on reception. In an interview on Catalunya Ràdio, he warned that "neither Catalonia nor anyone can host infinitely," with regard to the underage migrants who have arrived in the Spanish enclave in North Africa. The Republican has emphasized Catalonia's willingness to help, although there are "limits" such as the executive, which he has harshly criticized, fulfilling and "monitoring the borders."

In the midday press conference to kick off the political year, Junqueras was even more explicit and asserted that "Catalonia must always help children who need help", but, at the same time, that "the Spanish government must assume its responsibilities", not "delegate them". When asked about the message that reception capacity has limits, he insisted on the argumentation he already developed in Prada against the Catalonia of 10 million – he said that ""the conditions are not met"–: "If there is a child in need [do you] deny them help? I don't. [But] Can 7.8 billion people fit in Catalonia or any other country in the world? No. Can we reach a consensus that there must be some limit to capacity. Some will set it at ten, others at 8 point something, but everyone will think there is some limit," he stated. For this reason, he explained that in Catalonia there is not enough housing, services, schools, universities, energy or water for indefinite growth: "Infinitely welcoming is not possible," he concluded.

Some words that were fully rejected by the PSC spokesperson, Lluïsa Moret. In a press conference after this Monday's executive meeting, the socialist leader responded to the Republican saying that "one must not fall into the temptations that right-wing and far-right formations put on the table". On the other hand, Junqueras was also harsh against the Spanish government when he stated that "they have done very badly due to a lot of neglect", in Ceuta, where "a month has passed and they have not resolved it". However, he also shot against Morocco; unlike Sánchez, who this Monday exempted the Alawite regime from responsibilities, the Republican leader did point out its direct participation: "I do not agree that Morocco has acted responsibly", he said. And he added that he does not believe that a country that tries to "control" its citizens would not know or have any relationship with the entry of 70,000 people at once crossing its border into Spain.

Clash with Illa

Be that as it may, Junqueras has reiterated that the Principality's reception capacity cannot be "unlimited", in a narrative that clashes with that of the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa. Specifically, Junqueras's speech aligns with Junts's stance against the Catalonia of ten million that the Government advocates. However, ERC does defend receiving minors from this crisis out of humanity, beyond its general discourse against demographic growth.

Illa promised last Friday that Catalonia would act "with solidarity, responsibility, and rigor" in the face of the crisis in Ceuta and defended the "reception capacity" of immigrants due to the "humanitarian crisis". Despite the outstretched hand of the Generalitat, the Principality would not a priori have to host more unaccompanied minors because the ratio is much higher than that of most autonomies.

On the other hand, Junts defended from the outset that Catalonia could not host any more underage migrants. The Junts leader in Madrid, Miriam Nogueras, even warned Sánchez that if the Principality hosted any more migrants, her parliamentary group in Congress would vote against all initiatives of the state executive in the lower house.