Members of the Spanish government who had been in Ceuta since the start of the crisis were due to appear before committees in Spain's Congress of Deputies today, according to a column by Jorge Fernández Díaz published in La Razón, as the Council of Ministers meets to approve a plan of measures for the North African enclave.
Fernández Díaz wrote that, with one exception, none of the ministers had so far offered a real solution to the situation facing residents of Ceuta more than three weeks after what he called an "invasion," with several thousand migrants still in the city and refusing to return to Morocco.
Ceuta and the migrant crisis
Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city on the northern coast of Africa, bordering Morocco, and one of two Spanish enclaves on the continent alongside Melilla. It has periodically seen large numbers of migrants attempt to cross into its territory.
Fernández Díaz wrote that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had returned to the Moncloa Palace, the seat of the Spanish government, after his summer break, and criticized what he described as Sánchez's only visit to Ceuta since the crisis began, a 105-minute trip on the first day. During that visit, Sánchez said Spain should be grateful to Morocco for its collaboration in quickly restoring normality, according to the column.
Dispute over Ceuta and Melilla
Morocco has long claimed sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla, arguing the two Spanish cities on its border were taken from it and that Spain's control of them violates its territorial integrity, a position Madrid rejects.
Fernández Díaz wrote that Morocco's justice minister acts as the official spokesman for that claim, repeating it like a "mantra," and said some Spanish media have nicknamed him Morocco's own Óscar Puente, a reference to Spain's transport minister, who is known for his blunt public remarks.
The columnist argued that Ceuta and Melilla were Spanish territory centuries before Morocco became an independent kingdom in 1956, and said relations with Morocco should be based on cordial, mutual collaboration and respect given their strategic importance to both countries, but that Morocco's territorial claim is incompatible with that goal.
Criticism of the Spanish government
Fernández Díaz also criticized the composition of Sánchez's coalition government, describing it as a "Popular Front," and said its relations with the United States and Israel lacked trust, in contrast with what he called Morocco's currently excellent relationship with both countries.
He pointed to the Abraham Accords, the 2020 agreements that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab and Muslim-majority countries including Morocco, as having turned a previously nonexistent relationship into one he described as now strategic for the region.
Fernández Díaz closed by drawing a comparison between the Strait of Hormuz, which he said is central to the standoff between Iran and the United States and Israel, and the Strait of Gibraltar, arguing it helps explain the role Morocco could play in relation to Spain.
