The judge of the Audiencia Nacional, María Tardón, who is investigating alleged crimes linked to the massive entry of immigrants into Ceuta this summer, has requested the procedural representation of the autonomous city to provide, "with the utmost urgency", the list of calls from the Ceuta president, Juan Jesús Vivas, to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, or his chief of staff, between July 27 and 30.
The documentation now requested by the judge will allow this account to be contrasted with the official records of communications maintained during those days. The request also comes after Moncloa offered a different version and assured that between July 27 and 30 there were nine communications between the cabinets, all of them attended, and that Vivas requested to speak directly with Sánchez on July 30. The record of these calls can serve to specify what contacts occurred, when they took place, and who intervened in each of them.
Vivas assures he contacted Sánchez up to ten times
In his appearance, Juan Jesús Vivas maintained that he tried to contact Pedro Sánchez up to ten times before the massive entry, although he only received a response on three occasions, through the chief of staff of the President of the Government. According to his account, the last of these communications served to indicate that he should refer to what the Government Delegation conveyed, and not the Presidency of the Government. The Ceuta president also explained that it was not until July 30, the day the massive entry occurred, that he managed to speak directly with Pedro Sánchez.
During his testimony, Vivas indicated that, in the first two contacts, the chief of staff of the President of the Government, Diego Rubio, told him that they were working on the matter, that they were talking with the competent ministries, and that they needed more time. In the last exchange, on July 28, according to his statement, Rubio informed him that "the channel of communication from then on had to be the Government Delegation and not the Presidency of the Government."
The calls and messages between July 27 and 30
On July 30, when they were already aware of the situation that the Ceuta president describes as an "invasion", he contacted Moncloa again. Always according to his version, he was told from there that Sánchez did not have to speak with him about a matter circumscribed to the field of immigration.
According to Moncloa's reconstruction, it was on July 30 itself, with the massive entry already underway, when Vivas first asked to speak directly with Sánchez. That request occurred at 11:17 a.m. The conversation between both presidents was recorded at 12:55 p.m. However, around 1:00 p.m. that same day, he finally received the call from the President of the Government, a few hours before Pedro Sánchez visited the autonomous community.
The versions of Vivas and Moncloa clash head-on regarding the calls prior to the massive entry. The president of Ceuta assured judge María Tardón that he made ten calls to Pedro Sánchez since July 27 and that only three were answered. Moncloa denies this and shows a list of calls that includes nine communications between both cabinets between July 27 and 30, all of them attended. According to this documentation, Vivas did not ask to speak directly with Sánchez until July 30, the day they finally had a conversation.
