The deputy secretary for Institutional Regeneration of Partido Popular, Cuca Gamarra, said this Monday in Melilla that if Alberto Núñez Feijóo reaches the Presidency of the Government after the general elections on November 29, a future PP Executive will assume directly responsibility for the custody and protection of Spain’s borders. “We are going to take charge of the defense and protection of our borders, because a Government that does not comply with that obligation is not one,” she stressed, insisting that dependence on a third country will be avoided, referring to Morocco.
She made these statements together with the fence that separates Melilla from Morocco, where she denounced that the Delegation of the Government “has invited [them] to leave the border post” to a delegation of national parliamentarians led by her and Melillense officials who accompanied them.
Gamarra interpreted this episode as a sign of the “latest flurries” of the Government of Pedro Sánchez and went after what she considers a double standard of the PSOE. “The good face of sanchismo does not exist. Sanchismo is always the same,” she said, also reproaching the Ministry of the Interior for dedicating “more efforts to pushing the opposition away from the border than to ensuring its protection.”
In her remarks, the Popular Party leader presented the November 29 date as an opportunity to drive the political change that, in her view, Spain needs, linking it directly with safeguarding territorial integrity, especially after the crisis experienced in Ceuta last summer. She talked about “a national reconstruction that involves the defense of the integrity of all Spanish territory, which should be unquestionable, but which today must be reaffirmed.”
The PP deputy secretary expressed her recognition for the State Security Forces and Corps and for the Armed Forces deployed in Melilla, highlighting “their role in defense not only of the people of Melilla, but of all Spaniards.”
Gamarra outlined some of the initiatives that Partido Popular intends to implement if it reaches La Moncloa, including “a legislative reform” to strengthen border control and also act at maritime borders, after a Supreme Court ruling that limits the so-called “hot returns” when entry occurs by sea and there is no physical barrier.
Likewise, it has advanced that the PP will propose that the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla be considered "entirely border territory of Spain and of Europe", which, as it has indicated, would allow "to have an action framework that covers the entirety of both cities". This initiative would be completed with changes in asylum and return matters, as well as with a reinforcement of the human and material resources destined for surveillance and border security. At this point, it has promised to cover vacancies, expand staff and create specialized units in border control.
The Popular Party spokesperson has reiterated that the agents "must have protection and professional recognition". Among the commitments she has listed are pay equalization, a review of per diems, and the recognition of police corps as professions of risk, with the implications this would have for early retirement. "We are going to protect those who protect us", Gamarra has summarized, who has added that, with a Feijóo Executive, "in Melilla there is going to be more State, as in Ceuta there is going to be more State".
A plan of 650 million to reactivate Ceuta and Melilla
The PP representative has also advanced that Alberto Núñez Feijóo's electoral program will incorporate an economic boost plan for Ceuta and Melilla for the 2027-2032 period, endowed with 650 million euros.
She has specified that this plan will be accompanied by a specific regulatory framework to reinforce the two autonomous cities and foster their economic growth "with the objective of turning them into prosperous territories in which young people find opportunities for the future and their residents can live with peace of mind".
Gamarra has defended that Ceuta and Melilla "must have all the State resources to guarantee their security and their status as Spanish and European territories".
Asked how a PP Government would have reacted to a new crisis like the one from last summer, she has replied that "the priority would have been to guarantee control, authority and citizens' trust in the security forces and in the Armed Forces".
She has maintained that there were warnings and alerts about that situation and that the failure was due to the lack of response from the Executive. "Intelligence did not fail; intelligence was there. What failed was the Government", she has indicated.
In this context, he has accused Pedro Sánchez of "having delegated to Morocco the protection of the Spanish border" and has criticized that the president of the Government "left on vacation during the crisis", when, in his view, he should have remained in charge of institutional management.
To conclude, he has stressed that the residents of Melilla and Ceuta "have still not fully recovered normality" and that they need a Government "that guarantees them security and peace of mind".