The president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has assured this Tuesday that he is willing to "shield" the Spanish border if he receives warnings that a "invasion" like the one that occurred in Ceuta at the end of July may be repeated. He emphasized that his intention is to maintain a "good relationship" and be "loyal" to Morocco if he reaches La Moncloa, but he has warned that he demands the same "respect" and "loyalty" from the neighboring country.
In an interview on 'Antena 3', collected by Europa Press, Feijóo explained that, in case of governing, he will provide "all the instruments to the Intelligence Services" to alert him of what is happening, as, in his opinion, they already did with Pedro Sánchez's Executive in the face of the massive entry of immigrants in Ceuta 40 days ago.
"I will listen to the Intelligence Services. And I, if I have to act and apply Article 8 of the Constitution, I will do it. That is what it is for. And Article 8 of the Constitution says that it is the responsibility of the Armed Forces, the Army of Land, Air, and Navy, to guarantee the territorial integrity of our country," he emphasized.
In that line, he reiterated the need to "shield the border" when there is "information that there may be an invasion that is ordered through social networks" coinciding with the Throne Festival in Morocco and also when "the weather conditions" are given for "there to be many people who can enter by swimming in Ceuta." He made it clear that, if he were president, he would intervene: "And I will do it with the utmost respect for Morocco, but with the utmost respect for my country."
Criticism for the veto on the director of the CNI
The opposition leader has again condemned that the director of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), Esperanza Casteleiro, is not "allowed" to appear before the Official Secrets Commission of Congress.
"It is a state crisis and the Intelligence Service has to inform in the secret format in the Official Secrets Commission in the Congress of Deputies. The Minister of Defense refuses to give instructions and to facilitate that appearance and, of course, the president of the Government," he denounced.
Asked about the reports on the Ceuta crisis that the Government declassifies this Tuesday, Feijóo expressed his distrust towards those documents and predicted that those papers "are edited."
"Those who say they cannot be known say they cannot be known," he pointed out, to emphasize that he "trusts much more" in the investigation carried out by the National Court regarding a "crime against the territorial integrity" of Spain.
Questioned about whether the PP prepares 'blacklists' —following the information from 'El Confidencial' about a secret dossier from the Interior with dozens of journalists classified by their ideology—, Feijóo responded: "The truth is no, I assure you." He then considered it "very interesting" that the Executive has "more information about Spanish journalists than about what could happen in a Moroccan invasion."
Pegasus, Morocco, and territorial integrity
The popular leader warned that, since the leak of the Pegasus case, "the relationship of the Government of Spain with the Moroccan Government is changing," which, he said, has meant a "change in the entirety" of the diplomatic strategy. "There is a state crisis and the president of the Government is not free to make decisions in defense of the territorial integrity of our country," he added.
He also reproached the Executive for going on vacation "during the month" amid a territorial crisis. "No one does that," he emphasized, describing the Government's management as "nonsense," with ministers who go "like headless chickens." "I have never seen a crisis worse managed," he insisted.
In this context, he highlighted that sexual assaults and rapes have increased in Ceuta and stressed that the school year starts today with children carrying pepper spray in their backpacks. "Ceuta needs normality, truth, and future," he concluded.
Feijóo defended that "the sovereignty of a country is not subcontracted, the territorial integrity of a country is not negotiated, it is defended." "Therefore, first, a preventive attitude, second, reality and loyalty, but firmness in relations with Morocco and, thirdly, logically, activate all the capacity of the State to transfer and return those people in accordance with the Migration and Asylum Pact and with the Return Regulation that governs in Europe," he specified.
The King, Óscar Puente, and the management of Ceuta
Likewise, he has labeled as "lamentable" the "displeasure" with which Sánchez refers to the King by stating that he has "not gone to Ceuta for 20 years when he has been head of State for 12 years." "He knows that the King cannot go to Ceuta if Sánchez does not authorize him," he emphasized, reiterating that, in his opinion, the head of State "must go to Ceuta accompanied by the president of the Government."
Regarding the accusations from the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, who blames the PP for obstructing the solution in Ceuta, Feijóo has described the head of the portfolio as a minister "who lives off controversy" and "does not take care of his ministry." He has recalled that "he still has the 46 deaths from the AVE unresolved" and that the road infrastructures "are without maintenance."
"The Minister of Development is probably the worst Minister of Development that Spanish democracy has ever had," the leader of the PP has stated, emphasizing that Puente "is a polemicist, he is not a minister."
Migrant minors, pull effect, and Western Sahara
On the possibility that the Government will force the PP to accept the distribution of migrant minors, Feijóo has emphasized that his party complies with the laws "always," but has warned that "what cannot be done is to amplify the pull effect so that any minor from the African continent knows that if they enter" Spain "the child protection services" of the country "will automatically be made available."
At this point, he has recalled that Morocco "is a safe country according to the European Union" that is going to "host" a World Cup and, therefore, must assume the return of these migrants.
In response to the complaints from police unions demanding a state of emergency due to the slowness of registrations and the risk that the situation will become chronic, Feijóo has proposed organizing three shifts of immigration officials to "identify the adults and register the minors and, of course, carry out a diplomatic action."
When asked if the Government's stance on Western Sahara will change if he reaches La Moncloa, Feijóo has indicated that any decision will be "voted on in the Cortes." "When we have the information on exactly what the Mr. Sánchez has unilaterally agreed upon, which is not Spain, regarding Western Sahara, we will take a position on it and convey it to the Cortes, which is where decisions are made in foreign policy," he has pointed out.
He also recalled that he had a meeting with the Moroccan prime minister "some time ago" and raised this issue with him. According to what he has recounted, he made it clear that he cannot commit to fulfilling an agreement that he is unaware of. "And the fact is that there is no one in Spain, except for Sánchez, and I don't know if there were two or three more, who knows exactly what Sánchez has agreed upon with Morocco and Western Sahara," he concluded.