The full Parliament of Navarra has rejected this Thursday an initiative from the PPN with which it was intended to record the "firm support and solidarity with the citizens of Ceuta and Melilla and with their institutions" and recognize "the work carried out by the State Security Forces and Corps, the Armed Forces, emergency services, health services, and other public servants who work to guarantee the security and integrity of the Spanish borders."
The proposal presented by the PPN only had the support of UPN, while Vox opted for abstention and PSN, EH Bildu, Geroa Bai, and Contigo-Zurekin voted against it, which resulted in its rejection.
In the text, the 'popular' demanded, among other points, that the Navarra Chamber reaffirm that Ceuta and Melilla "are an inseparable part of Spain and its national territory" and that the central Government be urged to "exercise firmly and without ambiguity its responsibilities in matters of national sovereignty defense, security, border control, and immigration, guaranteeing a permanent and effective response to any attempt of pressure on the Spanish borders."
Likewise, the PPN requested the Executive to ensure "the effective application of Spanish and European legislation on immigration, return, repatriation, and expulsion, as well as the current international and bilateral agreements, always guaranteeing the rights and guarantees established by the legal system."
Another of the sections of the motion asked the Government of Spain to clarify "the information, alerts, analyses, and warnings that may have been received by the competent bodies prior to the episodes of border pressure recorded in Ceuta, as well as the decisions made based on such information and the coordination mechanisms employed."
The spokesperson of the PPN, Javier García, has denounced that "after 50 days of crisis and a massive influx of this magnitude" in Ceuta, "the Government's response is that we must wait until the end of the year" to recover normality in the autonomous city, while "Ceuta continues to endure a tremendously difficult situation." In his opinion, the actions of President Pedro Sánchez during the crisis "have been infamous and disgraceful" and he has accused him of "preferring to defend his interests over those of the people of Ceuta and the entire Spanish population." "The question is what Sánchez owes Morocco," he has raised.
From UPN, its spokesperson, Javier Esparza, has pointed out that his party demands "firmness on this issue, but also rigor, proportionality, and respect for the rule of law." He has defended that "we must clearly defend the Spanish sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla, demand that the Government of Spain assume its responsibility, that resources in those cities be reinforced, and that normality be resumed. Spain needs a legal and orderly migration policy, international cooperation, that responsibilities be clarified, and that Morocco commits to ensuring this does not happen again."
On behalf of the PSN, the parliamentarian Ibai Crespo has reproached that "the Government of Ceuta has been ignoring since August 28 a proposal to host 500 migrant minors" from Ceuta and has questioned the PP "what game are they playing." He has assured that "Ceuta matters little or nothing to them, they do not care about the people, what they do care about is the narrative based on hate. What they bring here is not a motion about Ceuta, it is a motion about themselves, about their strategy. If they truly cared about Ceuta, the Autonomous Communities they govern would do one very simple thing, which is to comply with the law and not put up obstacles. They are using an autonomous city as an excuse for the only thing that interests them, to sow fear and gain headlines."
In the name of EH Bildu, Javier Arza has explained that his group is not convinced by the "language of the motion," nor by the "focus," the "objectives," and the "solutions." He has maintained that "we do not like the model behind it. The focus of the motion is almost solely on the borders. However, from our point of view, the focus must be on people, because this is a humanitarian crisis."
The Geroa Bai parliamentarian, Mikel Asiain, has recalled that his party already conveyed "the support and solidarity" to the citizens of Ceuta, and has opined that "the State must rise to the occasion and address this situation with a clear strategy, with sufficient means and with a policy that guarantees the security and rights of people, but we want to make a call for attention to the partisan use that is being made of such a serious issue." In his view, "for the PP it is more interesting to take advantage of what happened in Ceuta to erode the Government rather than to demand and propose help for Ceuta, the Ceutans, and the immigrants."
The spokesperson for Contigo-Zurekin, Carlos Guzmán, has described the initiative as "the greatest exercise of political filibustering that has been seen in this Parliament in the more than three years of this legislature." He has recalled that "on July 30, Spain suffered a hybrid attack at the Ceuta border, using the Kingdom of Morocco in a spurious manner for the massive entry of tens of thousands of migrant and refugee people. In the face of this difficult situation, the PP has behaved in the most vile and disloyal way with the Government of the nation and with the institutions that had to face this situation. The PP sells its homeland for a handful of racist votes."
From Vox, Emilio Jiménez has pointed out that he generally shares the approach of the PP, although not all points. He has emphasized that "Ceuta and Melilla are two Spanish cities" and has added: "We do not know what agreements exist between Morocco and the Spanish Government. We have an occupied, invaded city. The Ceutans have lost their rights and freedoms, and meanwhile we look the other way."