The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, announced this Tuesday the construction of a permanent Temporary Foreigner Care Center (CATE) in Ceuta and the immediate start of new works on the Tarajal border. The Government intends to accelerate migratory procedures and restore "as soon as possible" normality after the entry of more than 72,000 people from Morocco at the end of July.
Marlaska returned to the autonomous city after the Council of Ministers to visit the border perimeter and the provisional facilities erected in the Tarajal industrial estate. The CATE has been fully operational since this Monday, has the capacity to serve 400 adults and has involved an investment of close to one million euros.
The head of the Interior Ministry has put the number of adults who have already gone through the identification and triage process at 1,120. This first filter allows for the study of international protection applications and the processing of returns or expulsions when appropriate. The identification of minors requires the presence of a legal representative and proceeds through a different procedure.
The center has several simultaneous work lines for taking fingerprints, photographs, and other biometric data. The Interior Ministry has also deployed 78 National Police agents, mainly from Immigration and Forensic Police, and eleven officials specialized in asylum and refuge. Marlaska announced that another 20 positions will be enabled in the coming weeks.
A new center and more resources for the border
The provisional CATE will give way to a permanent facility with capacity for 800 people, double the current infrastructure, and an estimated investment of around 4.5 million euros. The project seeks to prevent a new massive arrival from overwhelming the identification, assistance, and administrative processing systems again.
The Interior Ministry has also requested 32 million euros urgently from the European Union to reinforce the borders of Ceuta and Melilla. The actions will include the expansion of the breakwaters, the incorporation of new technological means, and the construction of permanent facilities in the two autonomous cities.
Marlaska has assured that the works will begin immediately, without waiting for the arrival of European funds to be completed. The minister recalled that since 2018, more than 37 million euros have been invested in the modernization of Ceuta's border perimeter, within the deployment of the so-called smart border.
The security device maintains more than 550 national police officers and civil guards as reinforcement displaced since the events of July 30 and 31. According to the minister, the staff of both corps has increased by more than 16% and will remain reinforced for as long as necessary.
Marlaska has acknowledged the feeling of unease among Ceutans, although he has defined it as a "subjective feeling of insecurity". To support this, he referred to crime data prior to the crisis, which placed Ceuta seven points below the national average. The minister has assured that reversing this perception constitutes a "maximum concern" for his department.
The head of Interior has defended that the application of the Immigration Law must be carried out without resorting to "any illegal shortcut" that unduly limits fundamental rights. He has also avoided setting a date for the end of the crisis, although he hopes that the progress of triage and asylum applications will allow the single command not to be extended when the year ends.
Marlaska justifies the dossier on journalists
During his appearance, Marlaska also responded about the Interior document that ideologically classifies journalists, advanced this Tuesday by 'El Confidencial'. The minister said that it is an "internal working document" aimed at knowing what is published about the Ministry and at conveying its message more effectively.
Marlaska has ruled out any "spurious purpose" and has maintained that Interior does not differentiate between media or professionals when providing information. Ministry sources maintain that the minister was unaware of the existence of the file and did not commission its preparation either.
The explanations come after the Federation of Journalists' Associations of Spain (FAPE) and the Madrid Press Association (APM) condemned the classification of professionals according to expressions such as "allied with the PSOE", "conservative tendency" or "supports the Government". Interior insists that its Communication Office serves all journalists "without distinctions".
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