The spokesperson of the PP in the Senate, Alicia García, announced this Wednesday that her party will take advantage of the absolute majority it has in the Upper House to promote the censure of five members of the Government for their actions in the migration crisis in Ceuta: Fernando Grande-Marlaska (Interior), José Manuel Albares (Foreign Affairs), Margarita Robles (Defense), Mónica García (Health), and Ana Redondo (Equality).
"If they do not leave, the PP will say it for them," proclaimed Alicia García at a press conference in the Senate, where she announced that the vote to censure these five ministers will be included in the first Plenary of September.
The 'popular' leader explained that the new censure of Marlaska in the Senate is due to the fact that, in her opinion, he has been responsible "for leaving the border of Ceuta without reinforcement despite the warnings of what was going to happen."
Regarding Albares, the popular party maintains that citizens "still do not know what Morocco's role has been," while in the case of Robles, the censure is due to the fact that she first showed her willingness to attend the Senate in August and then refused to appear.
With respect to the Minister of Health, the 'popular' will censure Mónica García "for the collapse of the health system that she herself manages and for not reinforcing it when it was needed."
At this point, Alicia García accused the Health Minister of taking 17 days to travel to the autonomous city and then denying that there had been a "health collapse," despite the warnings made by health professionals themselves.
"Ceuta lacks resources, it lacks healthcare professionals, and it lacks a Government," the 'popular' spokesperson emphasized.
In relation to Ana Redondo, the PP will also promote her censure and demand her resignation because, according to García, the Equality Minister "has not set foot in Ceuta for a single day" during the crisis. "And this despite the fact that sexual assaults have multiplied by eight," she reproached.
According to the spokesperson, this package of five censures constitutes the PP's response to the "slight" of the Executive to the Senate and to the repeated refusal of the ministers to attend the Upper House to account for what happened in Ceuta.
"Three ministers, three empty chairs"
The senator of the PP has particularly attacked the decision of Grande-Marlaska, Albares, and Robles not to attend the sessions for which they were summoned in the Senate and has insisted on accusing the Executive of designing "a parallel calendar" in Congress in order to bypass the absolute majority of the PP in the Upper House.
"Three ministers, three empty chairs," summarized the spokesperson, who accused these three members of the Government of being in "democratic rebellion" and refusing to give explanations "for Ceuta, for the Spaniards, and for Spain."
Moreover, the 'popular' representative emphasized that this is not "an invitation" or "a courtesy," but a demand arising from parliamentary control. "The Government cannot literally choose which Chamber controls it, when it appears, or under what conditions it does so," she concluded.
Ceuta, "four simultaneous crises"
In this context, the spokesperson of the PP has raised the tone against the management of the Executive in the autonomous city, stating that Ceuta is simultaneously facing a crisis of "migration, public health, public order, and security."
García has described what happened as a "premeditated occupation" of national territory and has criticized that the Government, despite prior alerts and warnings from the president of Ceuta, Juan Vivas, did not adopt the necessary decisions to reinforce the border perimeter.
"Ceuta is Spain, Ceuta is the border of Spain, the southern border of Spain, and the southern border of Europe," she defended, before warning that "a border that is not defended is not a border, it is a door wide open."
Judicial offensive and possible investigations
Beyond political reproaches, Alicia García has reiterated that her group is analyzing the possibility of initiating legal actions to clarify responsibilities for the Government's actions during the Ceuta crisis and for the refusal of several ministers to attend the Senate.
"All the instruments at our disposal to determine responsibilities for what happened in Ceuta and for the neglect of duties by the Government," she pointed out, specifying that the concrete measures will be announced "when appropriate."
Likewise, the 'popular' spokesperson has not ruled out the creation of a specific investigative commission regarding what happened in the autonomous city, although she has clarified that, for now, this option is not formally on the parliamentary group's agenda.