The Spanish government delegate in Ceuta resigns due to the "constant harassment" he has suffered

The hitherto delegate of the Spanish government in Ceuta, Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano, has resigned from his post, denouncing the "constant harassment" he has suffered in the last two months, with personal attacks that have made him say enough is enough. In an appearance without questions, Pérez Triano announced that he is not only leaving the delegation but also putting an end to his political career. "My family does not deserve this," he insisted after citing the personal attacks, among which was a funeral wreath he received at the delegation: "This is also violence." According to Moncloa sources, the delegate conveyed his desire not to continue in the position a few days ago, in a decision that the executive describes as "human and personal" after "many weeks of immense work."

"Lying is free," lamented the now former Ceuta delegate, in reference to some of the news stories that have been published in recent weeks and also to the use made of them by some political parties. "A delegation does not have operational command of the border, nor of defense. I cannot decide to open or close doors, nor can I give orders to the army or the local police," he stressed, while rejecting the accusation that he had not done enough to prevent the massive entry into Ceuta on July 30. "From the first moment, we asked for measures and reinforcements, and we made reports and communications," he insisted.

Pérez Triano stressed that since the Supreme Court ruling [against the 'hot returns' of immigrants arriving by sea], the Delegation in Ceuta had already warned of a possible pull factor and even proposed a change in the immigration law. Although they requested reinforcements and raised the alarm on the 30th, the former delegate also acknowledged that they did not foresee that so many thousands of people would gather to cross the border. "We requested the intervention of the army that same morning," he insisted.

The resignation of Pérez Triano adds to that of his former chief of staff, Carlos Sanz, who stepped down after it became known that he had received a call from the CNI warning him of movements at the border for a massive entry. According to the then delegate, Sanz did not inform him of this call, which became known through the declassification of documents carried out by Moncloa.

The change at the head of the Delegation will foreseeably be formalized this Tuesday at the Council of Ministers. As reported by Cadena SER, the replacement for Pérez Triano will be David de la Encina, who was mayor of El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz) between 2015 and 2019. The appointment is still pending approval by the Spanish government.

Investigation commission

Still with thousands of immigrants who entered at the end of July into the streets and facilities of Ceuta, the autonomous city seeks to recover normality, which Pérez Triano considers will not be achieved until all files are resolved and the immigrants are mostly returned to Morocco. The former delegate, who has claimed that "Ceuta is as Spanish as Toledo or Zamora", leaves with a message of gratitude to Minister Ángel Víctor Torres, who acts as the sole commander in Ceuta, to his team and also to the State security forces and bodies.

And while normality is not recovered, the political brawl also continues. This Monday the PP announced that it will create an investigation commission in the Senate —where it has an absolute majority— regarding what the Popular Party members consider an "invasion". In fact, the president of the autonomous city, Juan Jesús Vivas, ended the meeting of the PP national committee by stressing that the crisis in Ceuta is "the greatest attack on Spanish sovereignty in the last 50 years" and that it must be treated as such.