The migration crisis in Ceuta is worsening and Sánchez does not know how to resolve it

Madrid. Almost a month after 80,000 migrants entered Ceuta, the Spanish exclave in Morocco, the crisis is far from resolved. Despite the immediate return of most of the migrants, around 7,000 remain in a city whose population is only slightly larger than the number arriving in a single day; it is surrounded by the sea and has no hinterland to which they could be relocated, even temporarily. The government had been considering using school sports halls, but with the start of the school year just a few days away, the idea immediately sparked an outcry.

On Tuesday, Minister Torres, now in the control room, was greeted with cries of “traitor” by thousands of protesters outside his hotel. The following day, meanwhile, images were circulating of another hotel – a luxury one in Andorra. There, according to an exclusive report by the daily newspaper ABC, Pedro Sánchez was preparing his final romantic getaway of August with his wife Begoña, before addressing Parliament on 3 September. The scandal surrounding the Prime Minister – who had only just returned from holiday and was already ready to pack his bags again – forced Sánchez to cancel his ‘little getaway’, but this is something no populist leader could ever have dreamt of. What better illustration of the disconnect between the halls (and hotels) of power and the real problems faced by ordinary people?

Among Spanish observers, two schools of thought have emerged regarding Sánchez’s behaviour: for some, it is the arrogance of a weary leader in decline; for others, the tactic of a shrewd politician who will capitalise on the rise in polarisation in the upcoming election campaign. This brings to mind Zapatero’s famous off-the-record remark, when, on the eve of the 2008 elections, he said: “Tension suits us… This weekend I’ll start dramatising things a bit.”

Whether or not there is a ‘strategy of tension’, tensions in Ceuta are escalating of their own accord. At dawn yesterday, around forty migrants threw stones at a military vehicle, injuring the four soldiers on board, who were forced to flee on foot. It was a full-blown ambush that led to twelve arrests. Meanwhile, the armed forces have intervened to restrain Ceuta residents who were attempting to attack the migrants camped on the beaches.

In Ceuta, the absence of King Felipe VI was noted; however, he did choose to receive the mayor, Juan Jesús Vivas, who from September will be taking the matter to Brussels, where he will meet, amongst others, the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Immigration, Magnus Brunner. The King cannot do any more than this, as the Constitution prohibits him from undertaking any political action not authorised by the government. Some Socialist ministers are currently denying this, taking advantage of the fact that the Constitution does not expressly mention travel and, above all, that the King is tactfully remaining silent to avoid an institutional clash. However, Article 64 of the Constitution states: ‘The King’s acts shall be countersigned by the Prime Minister and, where appropriate, by the relevant ministers’.

Perhaps Sánchez fears the ‘Paiporta effect’. In the small village in the Valencian Community hardest hit by the floods of 2024, the official delegation was attacked by an enraged crowd. Hit by a hail of stones, Sánchez was whisked away by police officers, whilst the King and Queen broke through the security cordon and stopped to speak to the locals. It was a symbolically powerful gesture. Another such strong gesture in Ceuta would irritate not only Sánchez, but the other king who looms large in this story. Philip VI’s father, Juan Carlos, visited Ceuta just once in nearly 40 years on the throne, in 2007, and Rabat protested. “We firmly condemn an unprecedented visit such as this, which has wounded the deep patriotic feelings of the entire Moroccan people,” said Mohammed VI. Here lies a tension that has long been swept under the carpet in Europe.