Óscar Puente accuses Vivas of sabotaging the response to the Ceuta crisis to "save soldier Feijóo"

The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, accused this Monday the president of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, of obstructing the Government's response to the migratory crisis to protect the electoral interests of the leader of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo.

In an interview on 'La Cafetera' of 'Radiocable', Puente maintained that Vivas accepted on Tuesday the installation of tents in two plots of the port and that, just three days later, the Port Authority rejected that same location. The minister described what happened as a "trap" and accused the Ceuta leader of having been "profoundly disloyal" to the agreement reached.

"The Government of Ceuta says it defends Ceuta a lot, wants us to expel immigrants, but does everything possible to prevent us from doing so," he denounced. In his opinion, this blockade means "sabotaging the Government of Spain and indirectly the people of Ceuta".

"Ceuta is not California"

Puente defended the choice of the port due to the lack of available spaces in a city of barely 19 square kilometers. "Ceuta is not California, it is a very small place," he remarked to explain that the people who arrived on July 31 must remain localized while their identity is checked and their files are resolved.

The two plots are outside the urban area, are empty and can be perimetered. The minister admitted that their use could partially affect port activity, although he considers it the most viable alternative to assist migrants and apply the procedure provided by law.

After the refusal of the Port Authority, the Government has activated article 73.3 of the revised text of the State Ports and Merchant Marine Law, which allows the minister to authorize its use for national security reasons. Puente assured that normal transit will continue and recalled that any expulsion requires identification, address and administrative resolution.

The head of Transport attributed Vivas' change of position to Feijóo's influence. According to his version, the leader of the PP is now setting a strategy aimed at making the crisis "prolong and fester" until the elections. "The concern is to save soldier Feijóo, but not to save Ceuta," he launched.

Morocco, the far-right Vox and the future of the legislature

Puente has rejected that the massive entry was an operation organized by Morocco and has pointed to an overflow of border forces in the face of tens of thousands of young people. He has defended the relationship with Rabat as an essential piece to control the border and has asked the European Union to accompany the surveillance with investments aimed at the development of the countries of origin.

The minister also has assured that the images of Ceuta have been "the dream of every xenophobe, every racist and every anti-immigrationist", considering that they have served to reinforce the far-right narrative and spread false information. Europe, he added, needs migrant population to sustain a demographic pyramid marked by low birth rates and aging. "To demonize it is suicide", he warned.

Regarding the growth of the far-right, Puente has blamed conservative parties that incorporate these formations into governments. He has also warned that an eventual participation of Santiago Abascal in the national Executive could jeopardize the democratic system itself.

In electoral terms, he has revealed that the PSOE has polls prior to August 1 with "very good" data and has defended exhausting the legislature even without new General State Budgets. He considers that an early election would allow the right to build a narrative of government capitulation despite economic growth, job creation and deficit reduction.

Puente has ruled out that being Pedro Sánchez's successor is among his aspirations, although he has avoided completely closing that possibility if the PSOE were to ask him in the future. "I am a person of the PSOE at the disposal of the PSOE," he stated. His position, he summarized, is clear: "I neither rule myself out nor do I put myself forward".