The police blow up Pedro Sánchez's strategy

MadridIf there has been a common denominator in the account that all the ministers and the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, have given regarding the Ceuta crisis, it is to absolve Morocco of responsibility for the massive entry of migrants on July 30 and 31. "The collaboration was instantaneous," said the head of the executive on Monday and, in private, Moncloa insisted this very Tuesday that it had absolutely no indication that the Moroccan regime could be actively or passively behind what happened. In fact, the Spanish government has opted to point to the far-right international, Russia, and Israel. However, the police have blown up Moncloa's narrative and strategy. The fact that it has submitted a report to the National Court pointing at Morocco puts the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, against the ropes (like never before). And just one day before his expected appearance in the Congress of Deputies to account for the management of the crisis.

The first reaction of the Spanish government to this information has been to ensure that it had no knowledge of it. After a dozen appearances by ministers, the Ministry of the Interior states that it learned about it through a media outlet, Spanish, of the fact that there exists a report from the National Immigration and Borders Centre that points to Morocco as the instigator of the crisis of July 30 and 31 at the Ceuta border.

Until now, Sánchez's intention was to provide during Thursday's appearance in Congress a detailed chronology of events since July 30th, "to refute fake news" and provide "transparency". But how will their version fit with that of the National Police? Why has the Spanish government defended the Moroccan regime to the hilt despite the more than reasonable doubts about its diligence in controlling the border? Could 70,000 people mobilize towards the same point without the Moroccan regime finding out? If the Spanish government still doesn't know what happened, isn't it more prudent to be cautious about the Alawite role? How will Sánchez manage the questions that both his partners and the opposition, who pointed to the neighboring country's monarchy, will ask him about who was behind the mass entry? Has Moncloa prioritized agreeing on the version with Morocco before explaining what may have happened? What is the Spanish government afraid of? Why this insistence on absolving, at any cost, the Alawite regime?

Sánchez's problem is not just one of narrative in a crisis whose full extent we have not yet known, but that right now two key issues for the State government are in question: the Spanish foreign policy of appeasement that the president decided to adopt with Morocco starting in 2022 (with the U-turn on Western Sahara, still not duly explained, as its maximum exponent), and the control (or rather, lack of control) that the executive has over the most relevant levers of power. A well-informed source on how they work predicts: "The professionalism of the State's services is at stake. Things will keep coming out". It will be difficult for Pedro Sánchez to get out of this one, this time.