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, to be "quick and effective" in "resolving" the migratory crisis in Ceuta this Monday. And he has set clear limits on reception. In an interview on Catalunya Ràdio, he warned that "neither Catalonia nor anyone can host infinitely," regarding the underage migrants who have arrived in the Spanish enclave in North Africa. The ERC politician emphasized Catalonia's willingness to help, even though 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 "derogate from them". When asked about the message that reception capacity has limits, he insisted on the line of argument 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 [you] will deny them help? I will not. [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 capacity limit. Some will set it at ten, others at 8 and a bit, but everyone will think there is some limit," he sentenced. Therefore, he stated that Catalonia does not have enough housing, services, schools, universities, energy or water for indefinite growth: "Infinite welcoming cannot be," he reiterated.

Some words that the spokesperson for the PSC, Lluïsa Moret, has fully rejected. In a press conference after this Monday's executive meeting, the socialist leader responded to the republican that "one should 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 fired at 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

Regardless, Junqueras 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' discourse aligns with Junts' stance against the Catalonia of ten million that the Government advocates. However, ERC does defend the reception of minors from this crisis for reasons of humanity, beyond its general discourse against demographic growth.

Last Friday, Illa promised that Catalonia would act "with solidarity, responsibility and rigor" in the face of the crisis in Ceuta and the need for reception, and defended the "reception capacity" of immigrants due to the "humanitarian crisis". Despite the outstretched hand of the Generalitat, the Principality, a priori, would not be expected to receive more unaccompanied minors because the ratio is much higher than in most autonomous communities.

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