Limits and boundaries on the left in the migration debate in Spain

Lisbon. For some time now, a few critical voices within the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) have been calling for the general election to be brought forward ahead of the local elections in order to save the "infantry" of mayors (a fitting expression coined by Felipe González, the party’s historic leader and former Prime Minister). If, as envisaged by the standard 2027 electoral calendar, local elections were held first and parliamentary elections only afterwards, it would spell disaster city by city, neighbourhood by neighbourhood. These fears appear to be borne out by many opinion polls.

The crisis in Ceuta seems set to further highlight the disconnect between those who administer the cities and those who govern the nation, because it is not only Mayor Juan Jesús Vivas, of the People’s Party, who is harshly criticising the government for its handling of the emergency. “I agree with him that the government has been slow to act, and I wish to express my support for him because this is not a matter of political affiliation,” said Melchor León, the Socialist vice-chairman of Ceuta City Council. Like the many people who were demonstrating in the streets a few days ago, León is also calling for the resignation of the government delegate, the national executive’s representative in the autonomous community. The crisis has also given a new voice and prominence to ReActiva, a critical faction that emerged within the PSOE in early June.

Ever since the first meeting, ReActiva has been calling for early elections, but above all for primaries to renew the leadership. In recent days, critical activists have written an open letter. “We do not agree,” they state, “with the way the right is exploiting this crisis to call for lockdowns and exclusion, but neither can we ignore the fact that, in essence, they are pointing the finger at what we too are criticising: providing belated explanations and attributing blame solely to external factors does not mean being accountable for one’s actions; it means managing one’s image rather than the problem itself.” Harsh words, but carefully weighed. As when they call for “security that respects rights and orderly border management”, since, “if this space is not occupied with honesty, others will occupy it with cynicism”. In short, the latest wave of migration seems to have confronted Spain with the inadequacy of the dichotomy between cynicism and ‘buenismo’ (an Italianism that the Spanish have imported from our political lexicon), which is of little use in understanding and resolving what happened in Ceuta. And some significant voices are also being heard from the far left, when the discussion does not focus on late-post-colonialism and other academic issues.

“Morocco has committed a criminal act; we need to rethink everything,” said Antonio Maíllo in a recent interview with El País. Maíllo is the national coordinator of Izquierda Unida (IU), an Andalusian communist, and therefore hails from a region that is geographically on the front line of the migration issue. Last May, he stood as a candidate for the regional presidency of Andalusia, an election that dealt another blow both to the PSOE and to Maíllo’s coalition, which united IU, Sumar and Podemos under a single banner.

On Ceuta, he explains, the government’s message has been contradictory. “If one claims that there has been a violation of territorial integrity, one cannot fail to convene the National Security Council or set up a crisis committee.” It should be added that the self-determination of the Sahrawi people – which Sánchez has sidelined in the name of good relations with Rabat – is a long-standing cause championed by the Spanish left. The bill that would grant Spanish nationality to those born in Western Sahara during Madrid’s colonial administration is an initiative put forward by Sumar; it was approved by the Justice Committee in July and is due to be voted on in plenary in September. It has been discussed in recent weeks as one of the moves that may have irritated the Moroccan authorities. But for some time now, the PSOE’s allies on the left have been grumbling, only to swallow one bitter pill after another, fearful of going down with Sánchez.

It is striking, for example, how little attention Irene Montero has been receiving of late. Just a few months ago, during another disastrous election campaign in Aragon, the former minister and founder of Podemos had urged ‘migrants and racialised people’ to come to Spain and not leave the Spanish people alone amidst so many fascists. That wish seems to have come true this summer. You can bet that certain phrases will resurface in upcoming election campaigns, brandished by cynics against the do-gooders in the usual battle.