Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will convene the country’s National Security Council on Tuesday over the migration crisis in Ceuta — 26 days after tens of thousands of people crossed from Morocco and overwhelmed local authorities.
Sánchez held two online meetings with ministers on Aug. 7 and 17 to coordinate Spain’s response to the crisis in Ceuta. But this is the first time he’s called for an emergency meeting of his National Security Council, which includes part of his cabinet alongside defense and intelligence leaders. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. in Madrid’s Moncloa Palace, El País reported.
The prime minister had been under pressure to convene the body for weeks. Earlier this month, left-wing Izquierda Unida leader Antonio Maíllo called the meeting “essential” and urged Sánchez to rethink Spain’s relationship with Morocco. “First, holidays. Then, national security,” said Cuca Gamarra, a lawmaker for the center-right People’s Party, after Monday’s announcement.
The Ceuta crisis erupted at the end of July, when tens of thousands of people entered the coastal semi-exclave in North Africa in the space of 24 hours, forcing Spain to deploy the army after border forces were overwhelmed. Sánchez flew to Ceuta and branded the crossings an “attack” and a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity. Most migrants subsequently returned to Morocco, but thousands remained.
Madrid is now working to clear the remaining backlog. Around 5,000 migrants remained in Ceuta on Aug. 13, the interior ministry said. The opposition People’s Party is demanding more immigration officers be sent to Ceuta to process returns around the clock, while the health ministry and regional governments are dispatching 25,000 vaccine doses to guard against outbreaks of infectious disease.
The incident reignited a debate on unauthorized migration at the European level, with 22 EU leaders signing a letter calling for stronger EU external borders. It also triggered a feud between Spain and Italy after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government imposed temporary checks on people arriving by air and sea from Spain, and Madrid retaliated with controls on travelers from Italy.