The Government reinforces its response in Ceuta and entrusts Ángel Víctor Torres with the coordination of five ministries: "We are going to continue being here"

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has chosen this Friday the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, to coordinate all the state response to the migratory crisis in Ceuta. The decision seeks to align the work of the departments involved and accelerate the measures deployed in recent weeks to restore normality in the autonomous city.

The appointment, anticipated by 'El Periódico' and confirmed by sources from the Ministry of Territorial Policy, will be formalized soon. Torres has already been collecting information for several days and acting as a link between the different departments, so the new responsibility consolidates a function that he had begun to exercise in practice.

The choice responds to his direct experience in migratory matters during his time as president of the Canary Islands and to the transversal nature of the ministry he leads. Torres also played a prominent role in the reform of the Immigration Law that articulates the distribution of migrant minors when a territory exceeds its ordinary reception capacity.

Five ministries under a single coordination

Torres will harmonize the actions of the Interior, Foreign Affairs, Defense, Inclusion and Migrations, and Youth and Childhood. The Government Delegation in Ceuta, dependent on Territorial Policy, will serve as a channel to transfer decisions to those responsible deployed on the ground and maintain communication with the Executive of Juan Jesús Vivas.

The coordination covers border control and citizen security, diplomatic relations with Morocco, temporary accommodation, the protection of vulnerable people and the individual processing of asylum and return files. It must also order the possible transfer to the Peninsula of some of the minors who remain in the city and prevent the decisions of each department from advancing at different rates.

The measure concentrates political direction within the Government and keeps the powers of the Autonomous City intact. Vivas and the PP had demanded a single command linked to the National Security Law, while Moncloa has opted for an interministerial formula that allows strengthening coordination without altering the distribution of powers.

Sánchez has presided over two telematic follow-up meetings since the beginning of the crisis, held on August 7 and 17. Torres himself visited Ceuta on August 10 to meet with Vivas and then made clear the continuity of the state deployment. "The Government is here today and will continue to be here," he assured after that meeting.

More places and the transfer of 500 girls

The designation comes as the Executive has begun to transfer some of the people who were sleeping in the streets and on El Trampolín beach. The temporary reception capacity has reached 1,800 places with the Loma Margarita and Loma Colmenar Embolsamiento spaces, while work continues in La Hípica, the old football field of the Cavalry barracks, and the El Guano esplanade.

The Ministry of Inclusion has also activated an emergency declaration endowed with 6.5 million euros to sustain the attention of the Red Cross. Since August 3, around 4,000 daily food kits have been distributed, along with feminine hygiene products, and more than 4,000 people have received basic socio-health assistance.

The operation allowed the voluntary transfer of nearly 1,400 migrants from El Trampolín this Thursday, although hundreds have returned to the beach in recent hours. The reopening of the settlement shows one of the main challenges that Torres will have to address while available accommodation is expanded and information is offered on the functioning of the new resources.

Youth and Childhood considers it "feasible" to carry out the transfer to the Peninsula of about 500 especially vulnerable girls in a few weeks. The Government is now working on a concrete proposal with Ceuta to guarantee their accommodation, schooling, health care, and protection, with the participation of specialized entities.

This plan will advance in parallel with the 25 million euros allocated to the care of migrant minors, whose distribution will reach the Sectoral Conference on August 27. The National Police had identified up to Tuesday 2,168 unaccompanied minors, a figure that continues to increase as affiliations progress.

Continued presence and pressure against mafias

The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, has been in Ceuta since Monday and has held meetings with the city government, humanitarian organizations and neighborhood associations. Since the beginning of the crisis, Pedro Sánchez and seven ministers have traveled to the city, while the different departments maintain technical and operational personnel deployed.

The Interior Ministry announced this Friday another advance with the dismantling of two organizations dedicated to the clandestine transfer of migrants. Investigations carried out in Ceuta and La Línea de la Concepción have resulted in five arrests, one of whom has been sent to provisional prison.

The networks demanded up to 9,000 euros to cross the Strait in small boats and kept migrants hidden in homes and garages until the time of departure. In one of the investigated crossings, seven people remained for five hours in a five-meter boat, without life jackets and after running out of fuel.

The Council of Ministers will resume its activity next Tuesday, August 25. Torres will arrive at that meeting with the responsibility of gathering the decisions of five ministries on the same work sheet and quickly transferring them to the deployed device in Ceuta.