Óscar Puente attacks magistrate María Tardón questioning her "impartiality" and maintains the Executive's stance on Morocco's actions in the crisis

The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has given an interview on the 'Cadena SER' program Hora 25 where he commented on the latest information about the Ceuta crisis after the massive entry of more than 70,000 people into Spanish territory between July 30 and 31.

In this regard, asked by journalist José Luis Sastre about the opening of a case by magistrate María Tardón, to investigate the migratory crisis, Puente has questioned her "impartiality". Likewise, he has maintained the Executive's position, stating that there is no evidence that the Government of Morocco organized or participated in the entry. 

"To date, she has shown signs that her impartiality can be doubted," the minister affirmed, alluding to the judge's past as a PP councilor in the Madrid City Council. 

Puente has insisted on his criticism of the magistrate and has defended that his doubts do not respond solely to her political career, but to a series of "facts" that, in his opinion, must be taken into account. In this sense, he recalled that Tardón, although currently serving as a judge, "comes from the political world".

The magistrate had declared this Monday the competence of the Audiencia Nacional to investigate the case and had sent a rogatory letter to the courts of Ceuta. In her resolution, Tardón maintained that "the behaviors subject to the procedure have attacked the form of Government" and that the facts could constitute "an attack, a violation of the territorial integrity of Spain."

The head of Transport has also questioned that the opening of the investigation has occurred with the elements available so far. "I do not have the evidence that the judge has. If all she has is the police report, I don't know if it's a very wise decision," he pointed out.

The role of Morocco in the crisis 

In recent weeks, when the possible actions of the Moroccan government have been questioned, largely due to Marlaska's letter to the Police about the report accusing Morocco, Puente has, however, shown a more conciliatory stance.
"To date, we do not have evidence that leads us to the conclusion that this is an operation organized by the Moroccan government," said the minister, adding that the Executive "cannot act as if this were the hypothesis we are working with."

Puente, however, has acknowledged the existence in recent days of images shared on social media showing, on the one hand, a "certain laxity" in the Moroccan police and, on the other, "others that show the opposite." "The reports we handle first tell us that no one was able to foresee the magnitude that was coming upon us, neither in Morocco nor in Spain," he defended.

"We have no evidence to consider that the Moroccan government acted deliberately to organize this," insisted the minister, who reiterated the Executive's inability to "blame the Moroccan government for something it does not know to date."