The Government claims the success of the transfer of 1,700 migrants to the port of Ceuta and accuses the PP of "lighting candles for it to go wrong"

The Government has declared the conclusion of the transfer of 1,700 migrants from the beaches of Benítez and El Trampolín to the temporary facility installed in the port of Ceuta. Moncloa considers that the operation has “gone well” despite its enormous complexity and rejects the accusations of chaos launched by the Popular Party.

The available places were occupied around 1:00 p.m., six hours after the start of the operation. With the opening of the new site, the Executive raises the number of people housed in temporary facilities to 6,000, although it estimates that between 3,000 and 4,000 continue to sleep in streets, mountains, and other areas of the city.

The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, has followed the operation from the Superior Police Headquarters of Ceuta along with officials from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migrations. Torres, designated as the Government's sole commander to manage the crisis, thanked the work of the State Security Forces and Corps and the rest of the participating organizations.

“It has culminated with the success that it has been done without relevant altercations,” he defended. The minister insisted that the Government will enable new sites if necessary to reduce the number of people who still remain outdoors.

A morning marked by races and charges

The operation began before seven in the morning and mobilized some 240 agents of the National Police and the Civil Guard. The arrival of the first patrols caused hundreds of migrants to run towards the port for fear of running out of one of the available places.

The agents had to contain several stampedes and charges occurred during the first moments. Moncloa admits the tension, although it maintains that the operation regained control and was able to be completed in a few hours. Sumar has criticized the police action and has asked for explanations for the images recorded during the transfer.

The Executive assures that there were many more people prepared to go to the port than those who remained on the beaches in recent days. The opening of the camp was known since the National Court lifted the temporary suspension requested by the Unified Police Union on Thursday, which led numerous migrants housed in homes or settled in the mountains to move to the area.

The operation has also opened a dispute over coordination with the Port Authority. Its president, Juan Manuel Doncel, has assured that no one personally informed him that the transfer would take place this Friday and that he learned of the operation through the media.

The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has responded that the Port's technicians collaborated in the operation, that the Presidency Department of Ceuta knew the date and that the transfer had been publicly announced. “If the president of the Port is not informed by his technicians, is not informed by the Government of Ceuta that appointed him, and does not read the press, the fault is no one's but his own,” he wrote.

Puente closed his message by demanding explanations from Doncel about an award related to a family member, an accusation about which he did not provide further details in his publication.

Affiliation and files to accelerate returns

The Government defends that the new facilities will allow identifying migrants, initiating their files, and accelerating the returns of those who do not have the right to remain in Spain. Torres has assured that this will be the destination of “the majority” of the transferred people.

The Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, has recalled that accommodation in the port will allow abandoning the precarious conditions of the beaches and carrying out affiliations “quickly, safely, and with guarantees.”

“Are we going to discuss whether it is better for them to be in the port or sleeping on the beach?” López asked. The minister defended that the transfer constitutes the first step to recovering normality and accused the PP of “lighting candles for it to go wrong” while hundreds of officials worked on the operation.

The president of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has called Ceuta a “powder keg,” accused the Executive of being “knocked out,” and defended the immediate return of all people who entered irregularly. Moncloa considers these criticisms “irresponsible” and recalls that collective returns are outside the law.

Each file must be processed individually and checked for international protection requests or other circumstances that prevent return. In the case of minors, any decision must consider their best interest and verify that they will be received by a family, a guardian, or an adequate center.

The 1,700 places at the port are already occupied. Torres has left open the possibility of enabling new locations for the 3,000 to 4,000 people who still remain outside temporary resources.