Former Spanish lawmaker Soraya Rodríguez has condemned the handling of mass migration in Ceuta and demanded direct European Union intervention to control the border.
Speaking on the television program El Cascabel on TRECE, hosted by Ana Samboal, the former Socialist deputy described conditions in the Spanish autonomous city as inadmissible due to severe overcrowding and shantytowns in Spanish territory.
Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city located on the North African coast, sharing a land border with Morocco that serves as an external frontier for the European Union. Rodríguez, a jurist who previously served as a deputy for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and as a Member of the European Parliament, warned that public services in the enclave are facing extreme strain.
Rodríguez stated that the border situation reflects a maneuver recognized under the European Union crisis and force majeure regulation, which entered into force in July. She accused Morocco of exploiting vulnerable populations to destabilize public services in an EU member state and create tension along the shared border.
The institutional reaction from Madrid lacked the necessary forcefulness and speed required for an emergency of such scale, Rodríguez said. She stated that Spain should have declared a state of alarm immediately and requested financial and human resource reinforcements from Brussels.
Government Actions and EU Pressure
Rodríguez questioned the lack of direct presence by central government officials in the city, stating that an extraordinary Council of Ministers should have been convened in Ceuta. She called for a permanent emergency cell to be established in the autonomous city under the direct command of Spain's vice-presidency.
Furthermore, Rodríguez said the Spanish government should have issued a formal invitation to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to visit Ceuta and assess the crisis on the ground.
Addressing the debate surrounding border returns, the former eurodeputy clarified that legal regulations demand an individualized triage procedure for anyone entering without authorization. Under European law, authorities can only classify a person as being in an irregular situation and order their return after processing and denying their asylum request on a case-by-case basis.
Unaccompanied Minors and Political Fallout
Regarding unaccompanied migrant minors, Rodríguez noted that current legislation prohibits their deportation and requires their relocation to mainland Spain. She defended the need to request European solidarity to distribute these responsibilities among EU member states, emphasizing that migration across the southern continental border is a structural issue affecting all of Europe.
Following a review of press coverage regarding regional tensions over housing unaccompanied minors and recent statements by opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Rodríguez criticized political parties for engaging in partisan battles. Invoking the legal concept of an inheritance pact, she described the political maneuvering as a policy of crows focused on dividing electoral gains at the expense of a human crisis.
Rodríguez warned that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Feijóo are both making a grave mistake if they attempt to extract political advantage from a dramatic situation. She urged all political formations to display prudence and responsibility in light of the human dimension of the conflict.
Her concerns were echoed in commentary by Rubén Corral Castellanos, who stated that the government has lagged behind the crisis and failed to protect Spanish territory and borders during mass entries into Ceuta. Politician Ana Oramas also commented on the situation in Ceuta, stating that she had never seen management that was so politically disastrous.
