The Spanish government will ask the EU for more aid for Ceuta and Melilla: "It is the most unequal border on the planet"

The Spanish government's Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has assured that he will ask the European Union for "more attention" and "the same financial aid" for Ceuta and Melilla as for the eastern borders. He did so during an interview on RTVE, where he brought to the table the current state of the migration crisis that was triggered by the massive entry of immigrants into Ceuta on July 30.

Albares remarked that during the trip he will make this Tuesday to Brussels, he will speak with the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Magnus Brunner, and the Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica. Specifically, he assured that he will review with the two EU members Spain's relationship with Morocco and the central role that the State and Ceuta and Melilla have for the European project. "It is the only land border that Spain and the EU have with Africa, and that makes it the most unequal and the most complex border to manage on the entire planet. This is what they must take into account," he stressed.

In this sense, Albares assured that he will propose to the European members that Ceuta and Melilla become outermost regions, a new legal status in the EU that provides a response to the needs of a "unique on the planet" territory, just as Spanish President Pedro Sánchez already announced during his appearance in Congress last week. "Ceuta and Melilla have a very specific geographical position, like the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands, and therefore they also need a specific financial, economic, and commercial framework," he stressed.