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Around 500 people gathered in front of the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday to protest against the Spanish government’s handling of the crisis in Ceuta, where several thousand of more than 70,000 migrants who arrived in the exclave on 30 July remain.
MEPs and staffers from the centre-right European People’s Party and far-right Patriots for Europe gathered in the area in front of Parliament, waving the flags of Ceuta and Spain, and accusing Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of failing to defend Spain’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Two separate demonstrations were launched by Spain’s Popular Party and Vox in Brussels on Ceuta Day. Despite being organised separately, both gatherings took place at the same time and in the same location, with EPP and PfE lawmakers standing side by side.
“Sánchez has handed over responsibility for the security of Ceuta to a third country,” EPP vice-president Dolors Montserrat told reporters, claiming the Spanish Prime Minister “is bowing” to Morocco.
Online newspaper El Español reported on Wednesday that Spain’s National Centre for Immigration and Borders (CENIF) had concluded the incident “was guided by Moroccan security forces”, contradicting Sánchez’s stance that there is no proof of any involvement by the authorities in Rabat.
Madrid has so far avoided publicly blaming Rabat for the incident. It generally considers Morocco a cooperative partner in migration management.
Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska asked police chief Francisco Pardo to verify the information, which CENIF reportedly sent to a judge gathering information on the incident, according to ministry sources.
Vox, the leading Spanish far-right party, claims Sánchez has “betrayed” his own country and is pushing to activate Article 102 of the Spanish Constitution, which would trigger a criminal trial against the prime minister and his cabinet.
“The situation is untenable. This government cannot continue to lead Spain,” Vox MEP Jorge Buxadé Villalba told reporters, claiming this is the “hardest hour” for the country since the Catalan attempted secession in 2017.
Vox’s MEPs also sent a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner.
They call for condemning and sanctioning Morocco, declaring the massive entry “an act of hybrid warfare” and immediately suspending all international agreements between the EU and Morocco, as well as the granting of visas to Moroccan citizens.
The European Commission told Euronews it will not comment on leaks and considers the ongoing investigation into Morocco’s involvement “a matter for the national authorities.”