The PP distances itself from Vox and will go to the first meeting for the distribution of migrant minors

MadridThe PP has been forced to balance with Vox in the face of the humanitarian emergency situation in Ceuta. And the distribution of unaccompanied migrant minors who remain in the city since they entered swimming from Morocco is testing the complicity and understanding between Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Santiago Abascal. The far-right party announced on Saturday that its three vice-presidents with responsibilities in Childhood – in Extremadura, Aragon, and Castile and León – will not attend the meeting to be held on Thursday to begin addressing the distribution of minors. However, the PP will leave Vox alone because the regional ministries that depend on the Popular Party – in Andalusia, where there is also a coalition, and in the other seven territories where they govern alone – will attend the meeting.

“One must always sit at the table and listen,” defended the deputy secretary for autonomous and municipal policy of the PP, Elías Bendodo, from Barcelona. “We are willing to attend, even though we are totally against the Spanish government's proposals,” he justified. On Thursday, a sectoral commission will be held remotely, a technical body in which the general directorates of Childhood of the autonomous communities participate. It will be the antechamber to the Sectoral Conference on Childhood and Adolescence, a meeting between the minister Sira Rego and the regional ministers, scheduled for the last week of August. There, the reception of minors by the other communities and the budget of 25 million euros that will accompany the distribution will have to be approved.

The PP's position clashes with the outright refusal that Vox has shown in recent days. This morning, Vox MEP Jorge Buxadé attacked the presence of the PP's regional ministries at the meeting: “You don't make deals with the mafia. You don't meet with those who betray and want to sell Spain in pieces, except to take their statements,” he said on X.

Previously, minister Óscar López had reminded the PP that it has an “obligation of solidarity” and a “legal obligation” to welcome the minors and invited the Popular Party to “resolve the problems” it has with the far-right. In parallel, the leader of Junts in Madrid, Miriam Nogueras, reiterated that Catalonia “must be excluded” from the distribution because it is “above the limits of its possibilities”.

Morocco says it wants the "return" of the minors

The Spanish government estimates around 1,400 minors are still in Ceuta, according to the latest data registered and announced by the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres. Everyone, however, takes for granted that there are many more minors who are alone in Ceuta. NGOs in the city have estimated that the figure could exceed 2,000 minors. The Spanish government's intention is to prioritize family reunification with parents from the country of origin, as is customary in these cases. In cases where reunification is not possible, the minors will be placed under the guardianship of the regional public administration. And, therefore, they would be included in the distribution. In this regard, the Minister of Justice of Morocco, Abdellatif Ouahbi, has confirmed talks with his Spanish counterpart to work towards the "return" of all minors, as he told the Moroccan newspaper Hespress. Ouahbi said he will request this return.

The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, makes a similar diagnosis. “The logical and pertinent thing is to return the minors to Morocco,” he defended in an interview with OK Diario. Likewise, he has called for "diplomatic activity" to achieve this and has criticized that the Spanish government wants "a war" with the communities over the minors: “They use them as human shields to change the conversation,” he stated.

Defense cancels soldiers' holidays

The entry of people into Ceuta on July 31 has led to the deadliest migratory crisis on the Spanish southern border since records began. Eleven days later, the situation is one of humanitarian emergency with hundreds of people still sleeping on the streets and without adequate medical attention. Pressure on Pedro Sánchez's executive has not stopped increasing, especially from the government of Ceuta, which demands more police and military reinforcements and a "single command". The regional president, the popular Juan Jesús Vivas, advocates for "immediate returns" and opening a Centre for the Internment of Foreigners (CIE) to make it possible. In these centres, it is prohibited by law for minors to be admitted.

In this context, the ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, José Manuel Albares and Margarita Robles, will travel to the autonomous city this week. Robles will do so after having informed the military personnel in Ceuta who were on vacation that their leave was being cancelled and that from August 13 they must return to reinforce the border. This was revealed by the Association of Spanish Troops and Sailors (ATME). The idea is to increase border control in view of the possibility of a new entry of people from Morocco.

Clash with Italy

However, the migration crisis has triggered a diplomatic clash in the European Union, and specifically, between Spain and the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. And here, the PP and Vox have sided together, harshly criticizing the Moncloa government's decision to establish border controls on flights originating from Italy. Isabel Díaz Ayuso has lamented that the decision "isolates" Spain from the "world's leading powers" and "sister powers."

For his part, Elías Bendodo has maintained that it is a "textbook error" that leads to an "ever-increasing isolation" and has demanded to know "why" the Spanish government "is being aggressive" with Italy and not with Morocco. And Vox has aligned itself with the Italian government: "I understand and I agree. Spain is putting the Schengen area at risk. There is a certain strategy by Sánchez to provoke isolation," said Jorge Buxadé on Antena 3.