Albares and Vivas coincide in Brussels to bring the Ceuta crisis before European institutions

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and the president of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, will coincide this Tuesday in Brussels, where both will maintain an agenda of meetings with representatives of community institutions to address the situation of the autonomous city after this summer's migratory crisis.

Albares will focus his visit on advancing greater integration of Ceuta and Melilla into the structures and instruments of the European Union. To this end, he will hold meetings with representatives of the European Committee of the Regions and with the Commissioners for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner; Trade, Maroš Šefčovič; and Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica. He will also meet with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas.

During these meetings, the head of Spanish diplomacy also intends to address the role of both cities in the European external border and cooperation with countries in the southern neighborhood. The visit comes after Pedro Sánchez committed before Congress to propose to Brussels a more favorable tax regime for Ceuta and Melilla through their incorporation into the customs union as outermost regions.

For his part, Vivas will go to the European Parliament to explain directly to the community authorities the consequences that the migratory crisis has had in Ceuta, with special attention to the pressure on public services, coexistence, and the response capacity of administrations. The president of Ceuta will meet during the morning with the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and with the president of the European People's Party, Manfred Weber.

Vivas's agenda also includes meetings with Commissioners Šuica and Brunner, so he will coincide with part of the interlocution that Albares will maintain. The simultaneous presence of both will allow Ceuta's demands to be conveyed to Brussels from the central government and from the autonomous city itself. The visit also takes place while the European response to the Spanish request for emergency aid to face the consequences of the crisis is still pending. The European Commission considers this request a priority and plans to send a technical mission to Ceuta this week to assess the city's needs on the ground and study possible avenues of cooperation.