The PP questions Sánchez's version of the crisis in Ceuta and puts Morocco at the center: "Does anyone believe he didn't know?"

The Partido Popular has inaugurated the new political year with a direct response to Pedro Sánchez's first interview after his vacation. The national spokesperson for the PP, Borja Sémper, has accused the President of the Government of building a "worrying conspiranoia" about the Ceuta crisis and of ruling out any responsibility from Morocco while pointing to Russia, Israel, and far-right disinformation networks. "He only needed to blame Franco," he quipped.

Sémper appeared this Monday at the party's national headquarters after the meeting of the Steering Committee chaired by Alberto Núñez Feijóo. In his opinion, Sánchez's intervention on 'Hoy por Hoy', on 'Cadena SER', functioned as "the dress rehearsal of the narrative" that he will take this Thursday to the Congress of Deputies, where he will appear to explain the Executive's actions regarding the massive entry recorded on July 30 and 31.

The main clash lies in Rabat's role. Sánchez assured during the interview that no report from the State Security Forces and Corps or the National Intelligence Center (CNI) points to the participation of Moroccan authorities. He also described Morocco's subsequent cooperation as "frankly positive."

The PP openly questions that explanation. Sémper wondered if it is credible that tens of thousands of people could cross Moroccan territory and head towards the border without the knowledge of the authorities or intelligence services of the neighboring country. The spokesperson used a figure of 80,000 people, while Sánchez placed the number of entries at around 70,000 and noted that nine out of ten migrants have already returned to Morocco.

The president also acknowledged that the causes of what happened are still being investigated. In that context, he spoke of the false messages that circulated on social media and promised that those who reached Ceuta by swimming could remain in Spain. Sánchez linked the spread of these hoaxes to networks associated with Russia, Israel, and an "ultraright international," although he differentiated that campaign from a possible participation of the Moroccan Government in the massive entry.

Sémper has united both planes in his response and has accused the Executive of always looking for an external culprit in every crisis. He has also incorporated Elon Musk into the list of actors singled out by the Government and has reproached the president for presenting an investigation that is still open while firmly maintaining that Rabat did not participate in what happened.

The clash over Morocco

The popular spokesman has denounced Sánchez's "diplomatic delicacy" with Morocco and his "surprising harshness" with the people of Ceuta. According to his diagnosis, the situation has worsened during the last month and the Government continues to be overwhelmed by the security, reception and coexistence problems that the autonomous city is experiencing.

Sémper has described an Executive that is "enormous" for collecting and regulating, but "tiny" when it must protect borders and guarantee order. He has also accused the president of treating the inhabitants of Ceuta as "third-class" citizens and has raised what would have happened if the city had elected 49 deputies in Congress instead of one.

Against the image of paralysis conveyed by the PP, Sánchez has quantified at 5,000 the migrants who still remain in Ceuta, including around 1,200 minors. The president maintains that reception capacity has increased from 500 to 3,300 places during the last month and that the device will soon reach 6,000, an expansion with which the Executive intends to remove from the streets and improvised settlements those who remain in the city.

The popular offensive has extended throughout the day. The Deputy Secretary of Finance, Housing and Infrastructure of the PP, Juan Bravo, has accused the Government of being "surrendered" to Moroccan policy and has demanded the return of those who entered irregularly. He has also revived the party's proposal to allow automatic returns for sea entries.

That possibility currently clashes with the interpretation set by the Supreme Court. The high court ruled last July that immediate border rejection cannot be applied to those who are intercepted at sea when trying to arrive by swimming. These cases must follow the ordinary return procedure as long as there is no physical maritime containment element comparable to land fences.

The deputy spokesperson for the PP in Congress, Ana Alós, focused her intervention on minors and demanded the activation of their family reunification or delivery to the Moroccan protection system. Alós defended that returns be processed "one by one" and with all guarantees, after the Supreme Court declared the returns made in 2021 illegal due to the lack of individualized files, hearings for those affected, and the participation of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

The pulse jumps to the street

The PP has also taken the dispute to the rallies called for this Wednesday, September 2, coinciding with Ceuta Day. Sémper has "solemnly" asked the PSOE to rectify its decision not to support them and has accused the socialists of trying to sabotage them by calling them partisan. Feijóo will travel to Ceuta that day and will later participate in the Madrid rally, scheduled for Cibeles square.

The call was announced by the president of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), María José García-Pelayo, mayor of Jerez and a PP leader. The federation called for rallies at 8:00 p.m. in front of city halls across Spain. The PSOE and other groups represented in the organization maintain that García-Pelayo made the decision unilaterally, without submitting it to the governing bodies, and have differentiated their solidarity with Ceuta from their rejection of the procedure used.

Another front of the press conference has been the possible visit of Felipe VI to Ceuta. Sémper has demanded that Sánchez avoid politically "manipulating" the Crown and has assured that Feijóo would accompany the King to the autonomous city if he were president of the Government. The reaction comes after Sánchez announced that the trip will take place "when conditions allow."

The popular spokesman has also corrected the president for stating that Felipe VI has been reigning for more than twenty years. The current head of state was proclaimed King on June 19, 2014, so he has just completed twelve years on the throne. No Spanish monarch has so far made an official visit to Ceuta or Melilla.

Sémper has also confirmed that the PP has already appeared as a popular accusation in the procedure opened by the Audiencia Nacional to investigate what happened in Ceuta. The party wants to know what information the Government, intelligence services and authorities responsible for the border handled before the massive entry.

Feijóo will go to Ceuta this Wednesday for the third time since the beginning of the crisis and will participate in the afternoon in the Cibeles concentration. The next day, Sánchez will appear before Congress with Morocco, the warnings from the CNI and the Government's actions at the center of the first major political confrontation of the new course.