The Deputy Secretary of Autonomous and Local Policy and Electoral Analysis of the PP, Elías Bendodo, has described this Friday in Cartagena as "very concerning" the situation being experienced on the coast of the Region of Murcia. He has held the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, responsible for having transformed the Mediterranean into "highways of impunity for drug traffickers and mafias."
The 'popular' leader has made these statements accompanied by the mayor of Cartagena, Noelia Arroyo, the spokesperson of the PP in the Regional Assembly, Joaquín Segado, as well as by regional and national deputies and senators of the party from the Region of Murcia.
As he has indicated, "we are talking about a growing problem, a problem of security, of control of our borders and of mafias that have seen an opportunity on our coasts and, in this case, in Cartagena," to emphasize that it is not about arrivals in traditional boats, but rather "narco-boats that are used as taxis to bring people from Africa to the coasts of Cartagena."
Bendodo has lashed out at the lack of resources of the State's security forces, stating that while "the mafias arrive with faster and more powerful boats," the Executive keeps the Civil Guard in "clear inferiority of means."
At this point, he has specified that the armed institute has "four vessels in the area, but two of them are out of service and a third with limited capacity," which, in his opinion, forces the agents to "risk their lives."
The PP official has pointed out that the entries of irregulars by sea to the Region have increased this year by 140% and that "in Cartagena, in just one week, more than 150 immigrants have disembarked from the narco-boats," which, in his opinion, shows that "the mafias advance because the Government clearly retreats and they see it."
Likewise, he has criticized the actions of the representation of the central Executive in the community. In this sense, he has pointed out that the Government delegate, Francisco Lucas, "will have to explain to all the citizens of the Region that while the boat was hitting our coasts and the Civil Guard was asking for resources, he was on vacation as if this did not concern him."
During his intervention, Bendodo compared the lack of resources on the Murcian coast with the deployment made during the summer break of the president in the Canary Islands. He asked: "Why were there more than 100 agents, there were patrol boats and there were drones to protect the holidays of the president of the Government in La Mareta? That has not been the case in Ceuta nor has it been the case in Cartagena."
PP Initiatives in Congress and Senate
The deputy secretary of the PP has announced that his party has registered a non-legislative proposal both in Congress and in the Senate with the aim of strengthening the fight against illegal immigration and human trafficking on the Spanish coasts, with "special attention to the coasts of the Region of Murcia." The text demands more personnel, the immediate replacement of damaged vessels, and an enhancement of aerial, technological, and intelligence resources.
In addition, he has announced the request for an urgent appearance of Marlaska in the Lower House to provide explanations about the specific situation in the Region of Murcia.
Bendodo has also questioned the Government's management in the Ceuta crisis, where, according to him, "70,000 people have violated the Spanish borders and have entered our country" without the Executive having responded, in his view, to two essential questions: "how could this happen" and whether "it is in a position to guarantee us that it will not happen again."
He has also criticized the alleged discrepancies between the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, and the Interior Minister, recalling that the former "warned before the massive entry" based on reports from the CNI, while the latter "says that that warning did not exist."
On this point, he has assured that both "are focused on winning the battle to see who tells the truth because both are lying," and he has emphasized that Marlaska incurs in an "absolutely unsustainable dereliction of duty," concluding that "Marlaska only has one way out, which is resignation."
The 'popular' leader has also made a "call for calm" by emphasizing that "violence cannot be responded to with more violence." In his view, the way out of the crisis involves demanding that the Executive "assume its responsibilities, solve this crisis, put the means on the table, negotiate what it has to negotiate" and "deploy the forces it has to deploy."
In his opinion, "the one who has to give an answer is the Government, which has been abandoning this crisis," and he reiterated afterwards that "everyone and each one of those who arrived irregularly violating our border should return by the way they entered."
"The Government has abandoned the Spaniards"
In this line, he rejected that the Executive turns Ceuta "into a permanent reception center" or into a "refugee camp" and emphasized that "we are not going to allow it," after reproaching that "the Government has abandoned the Spaniards, not only the Ceutans, but also the Cartagena residents."
Regarding the evolution of events in the autonomous city, he warned of the seriousness of the latest episodes, recalling that a group "attacked a Spanish military vehicle in Ceuta," an incident in which four soldiers were injured and 12 people were arrested.
In this sense, he denounced that "deploying our soldiers in Ceuta without the legal framework, without the appropriate orders, without the necessary means, is also a great irresponsibility."
He added that "this Government does not govern, this Government defends itself from everything it has inside, therefore, it is incapacitated to continue governing" and reiterated that "Ceuta is not Spain, Ceuta is Spain. And that in the Government seems not to be totally clear."
Finally, he stated that "the PSOE, it is proven, this Government only gets it right when it copies the measures we take from the Popular Party."
The mayor of Cartagena demands more resources
For her part, the mayor of Cartagena, Noelia Arroyo, has denounced that "the Government Delegation and the Ministry are constantly trying to deny the problem" arising from the arrival of boats on the coast.
Arroyo has warned that "if the problem is denied, if they adopt that policy of denialism, they cannot solve the problem and we need it to be resolved," and has criticized that from the central Administration they intend for the Cartagena residents to "get used to" "criminals in hoods arriving in broad daylight on our coast."
Likewise, she lamented that "in Cartagena we have to get used to having a deficit of personnel and obsolete, broken means."
The councilor has announced that she will initiate a working meeting to convey to all possible areas the initiatives that "allow us to demand the provision of the personnel we need from the Civil Guard and the National Police" and has claimed that "the law should be applied and that anyone who enters Spain irregularly, through our coast, should be returned."