The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, has demanded greater involvement from European institutions regarding the situation in Ceuta and the advance of drug trafficking on the Andalusian coast. Moreno conveyed these issues to the Committee of the Regions of the European Union, of which he is vice-president, during his participation in various meetings held in Ireland.
The Andalusian leader has argued that Europe's southern border should receive similar attention to that being given to other border areas of the continent. Moreno acknowledged that the eastern border, marked by the war between Ukraine and Russia, is "important", but insisted that the southern tip of Europe is also important.
"Not enough attention is paid to Europe's southern border, where precisely because of that border, mafias operate with migrants and drug trafficking," he warned. Moreno conveyed to the meetings of the Committee of the Regions the situation in Ceuta, where he focused on the migratory crisis affecting the autonomous city. The Andalusian president assured that he will continue to bring this issue to the European forums in which he participates.
Las regiones deben tener una importante participación en la gestión de los fondos europeos.
— Juanma Moreno (@JuanMa_Moreno) September 24, 2026
Vamos a seguir incidiendo durante toda la negociación de los próximos presupuestos.
La voz de #Andalucía y del @EU_CoR se escucha con fuerza en la Presidencia irlandesa de la UE. pic.twitter.com/wE2GrvtSCF
"There will be no meeting" of the European Union in which he is present that does not address the situation in Ceuta, he assured. "We will continue to insist that the European Union and its institutions pay due attention to all those Spaniards, neighbors and brothers who are tragically having a frankly bad time and it has already been more than 50 days."
Moreno asks to recognize Andalusia as a southern border
The president of the Junta has also demanded that Andalusia be officially recognized as "Europe's southern border" by both the State and community institutions. According to him, this recognition would allow for "more resources and more means" to combat drug trafficking and criminal organizations operating in the Strait.
Moreno has insisted that community institutions have not yet assumed, in his opinion, the dimension of the problems affecting this area. "They are still not aware of the importance of Europe's southern border, they are not aware of the serious problem that is occurring on a European border such as the Ceuta border with Morocco, and they are not aware of the problem of drug trafficking in its seriousness," he added.
We ask the National Government and European institutions to dedicate specific funds to reinforce Europe's southern border.
— Juanma Moreno (@JuanMa_Moreno) September 24, 2026
Drug and illegal immigration mafias must be combated.
Ceuta is still waiting for a real and effective solution to return to normality. pic.twitter.com/z5GsgeT0QL
In parallel, he has demanded that the Government of Spain convey these issues to European institutions when its ministers and the president, Pedro Sánchez, participate in community meetings. Moreno has asked that the problems of the southern border be part of the Executive's agenda in Brussels.
"We have to make a significant effort over the next few months and, of course, I am going to deploy, within my possibilities, all the resources at my disposal so that institutions become aware of the problem we have in southern Europe with the entry of narcotics through drug trafficking and, above all, the problem that Ceuta has," he indicated.
"We expect a quick and forceful reaction from the European authorities," he concluded.
Andalusia demands capacity to manage European funds
Moreno also addressed during his speech the negotiation of the next multiannual budget of the European Union and defended the importance of the presence of Andalusia in community bodies.
The Andalusian president has expressed his concern about the future distribution of European funds, especially their impact on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and funds allocated to regional development. He has assured that his Government is "very concerned about how the budgets will turn out regarding the Common Agricultural Policy, which affects Andalusian agriculture, and the funds in the regional distribution."
Regarding the management of these resources, Moreno has defended that the autonomous communities should administer a part of the European funds. The Andalusian leader has argued that "it has been shown that when they have been recentralized in the state, they have not been able to execute them."
"The autonomous communities have prepared administrative units, the experience and all that trajectory to manage these funds," he pointed out. Moreno added that it is the regions themselves that know which areas most urgently need these resources.
