Marlaska calls for calm in the face of escalating tension in Ceuta: "Violence is not the way"

MadridIntense Friday regarding the political management of the humanitarian crisis in Ceuta. Hours after tensions escalated in the autonomous city and several demonstrators set fire to the migrants' camp, the President of the Spanish Government will preside this morning a new meeting of the Specialized Committee on Ceuta with the participation of up to eleven ministers. In parallel, also this Friday, the heads of the Interior, Foreign Affairs, and Inclusion and Social Security ministries will appear in Congress to explain the management of the crisis. The meeting chaired by Sánchez will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will be held in person at the Moncloa Palace.

The only one not on the list of attendees for this meeting is the Minister of the Interior, who is appearing from 9 a.m. in the Congress of Deputies. Fernando Grande-Marlaska has begun his speech by calling, precisely, for calm in the face of growing tension in Ceuta. Yesterday, several demonstrators tried to prevent food from the Red Cross from reaching the immigrants and a camp was burned. "Violence is not the way," he warned, in addition to blaming the opposition for "inciting hatred" and creating a tense situation.

Organizations on the ground are also calling for "calm" and "responsibility." "We ask the administrations to expedite the transfers of migrants to the peninsula and to provide a coordinated response that guarantees coexistence and rights," they have requested from the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid.

The other member of the Spanish government who has joined this message from the outset has been the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres: "There are organized groups of hooded individuals" who do not want "to reach normality," Torres assured. The person in charge of directing the unified command, created to manage the Ceuta crisis, said that what has happened "does not reflect the reality of the people" of Ceuta and requested that "the distribution of humanitarian aid be allowed." On Thursday, Torres asked the PP and Vox parties, who have toughened their anti-immigration discourse during the crisis, for a clear message of condemnation of violence.

More border control

Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who has responsibilities in border control, has assured that since the beginning of summer, police presence in Ceuta was reinforced, which, in fact, is already four times greater than in the rest of the State. Just as the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, did this Thursday, Marlaska pointed out that after the Supreme Court's ruling on July 8, which declared illegal "hot returns" by sea, police presence was already increased. For example, up to 70 civil guards and more maritime surveillance boats were incorporated, he said.

The minister has anticipated that this border hardening will continue. He said that 35.5 million euros will be invested in reinforcing the border in both Ceuta and Melilla after requesting a large part of the financing from the European Union (90% of the investment, Marlaska said). In the specific case of Ceuta, he also announced extraordinary measures: an extension of the breakwaters of Tarajal and Benzú, the permanent installation of containment buoys, the construction of a permanent Temporary Foreigner Attention Center, and new "technological capabilities to reinforce the surveillance and protection" of the border. Despite all this, Marlaska said that around 5,000 people remain in Ceuta out of the 72,000 who entered between July 30 and 31. He acknowledged, however, that these are estimates.

Marlaska will also have to give explanations amidst the controversy over whether or not there was information that could have predicted the entry of tens of thousands of people into Ceuta. A few days ago, he himself stated that there was no report from the National Intelligence Center (CNI) in this regard. A narrative that has led to a tangle with the head of Defense, Margarita Robles, who stated this week that the CNI warned the Government Delegation in Ceuta on July 29 that there was a call for migrants to enter by swimming from Morocco. However, Robles did not detail the precision of the warning.

After Marlaska's appearance, there will be two more extraordinary sessions in Congress on the management of Ceuta: that of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and, in the afternoon, that of the head of Inclusion and Social Security and Migrations, Elma Saiz.