Feijóo and Ayuso will meet again this Wednesday at the concentration for Ceuta after the internal crisis opened by the controversy of the Chamberí penthouse

The rallies called for this Wednesday, September 2, in support of Ceuta have ended up becoming a new political battle. The Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces has called on the 8,132 Spanish city councils to meet at 8:00 p.m., coinciding with Ceuta Day, to show their support for the autonomous city after the massive arrival of more than 70,000 migrants at the end of July.

The PP has fully committed to the call and will distribute its leadership members across different provinces. Alberto Núñez Feijóo will travel to Ceuta in the morning and then attend the rally in Cibeles square, in Madrid, along with Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida. Isabel Díaz Ayuso has called for "massive" participation and is expected to coincide there with the national leader of the party. Santiago Abascal will also attend.

The photograph of Feijóo and Ayuso

The public reunion between Feijóo and Ayuso comes after several uncomfortable weeks for the PP due to the Chamberí penthouse scandal. The public company Planifica Madrid paid 6.3 million euros for a property that was going to be used as a temporary office for the president during the works of the Royal House of Correos. The project was discarded and the property was subsequently put up for sale for 6.7 million.

The operation is being investigated by Instruction Court number 8 of Madrid and has fueled suspicions of a leak from the PP itself. Génova has avoided getting involved in Ayuso's defense and has referred for weeks to the explanations of the regional government. The Cibeles rally will now offer a photograph of unity, although it remains to be clarified why a public company acquired a luxury property for a use that ended up being abandoned.

The national leadership of the PP maintains that the mobilizations seek to defend Ceuta and convey to the Government the need to reinforce security and attend to its residents. Vox has chosen another path. The far-right intends to transform the day into a direct protest against Sánchez and against immigration.

Its spokesperson in Congress, Pepa Millán, has reproached the PP for its supposed "lukewarmness" and has warned that the concentrations "are not for singing carols". Vox again uses the term "invasion" to describe the arrival of migrants and demands that the Government and Morocco be singled out as culprits. This framework turns thousands of people into a collective threat and fuels xenophobic discourse in a city where aggressions and attacks against migrants and activists have already been registered.

The PSOE divides and Minister Torres asks for calm

The federal leadership of the PSOE has asked its officials to stay out. Ferraz considers that the president of the FEMP, the popular María José García-Pelayo, acted unilaterally and accuses the PP of using a municipal institution to call a protest against the Government.

The Executive's spokesperson, Elma Saiz, has defended that "Spanishness requires respecting institutions and not instrumentalizing them". However, the socialist position shows cracks. The mayors of Mérida and León, along with several mayors of Andalusian municipalities, have announced that they will participate in the concentrations. In Ceuta, the socialist group has given its militants freedom and several of its members will attend the call. Other city councils governed by the PSOE are preparing their own acts or institutional declarations.

The Minister of Territorial Policy and responsible for governmental coordination in Ceuta, Ángel Víctor Torres, has assured that he respects the mobilizations, although he has asked that they take place without violence. "Those who want to demonstrate, with flowers in hand and criticizing some and others, let them do it," he said after the Council of Ministers.

The Government approved this Tuesday an emergency plan of 309 million euros to reinforce security, public services, reception, and the economy of Ceuta. One day after the concentrations, this Thursday, September 3, Sánchez will appear in Congress to explain the management of the crisis.