The President of the Senate, Pedro Rollán, defended this Monday during his institutional visit to Melilla that the two autonomous cities of North Africa, Melilla and Ceuta, represent "the zero kilometer of Spain" and asked the State to grant them "a treatment and a space in our heart very relevant". At the start of his official agenda, he emphasized that "Melilla is Spanish by all four sides" and insisted that both cities are a key piece both for Spain and for the European Union. "Neither Spain can be understood without Melilla, nor Melilla without Europe," he left written in the Gold Book of the City as testimony of his passage through the city.
The top official of the Upper Chamber has highlighted the normality, coexistence and sense of security that, in his view, are experienced in Melilla, where he has stated that one can walk "with total and absolute tranquility". At the same time, he has lamented that this same reality is not now the case in Ceuta, which he referred to as "its sister city". Rollán has likewise expressed his concern over the shortcomings that, in his opinion, both cities carry in areas such as health and education, responsibilities that depend directly on the central Government. In this line, he recalled that "the results of the PISA report once again show a substantial margin for improvement in the educational field".
The President of the Senate also referred to the demands of health professionals and Melilla patients, who are calling for higher-quality healthcare. Even while recognizing the city's strengths, he underlined that "having to travel to the Peninsula to receive certain treatments entails an economic and logistical effort", to which is added the further difficulty of the availability of flights and other means of transport. According to what he pointed out, "I see that matters have not improved substantially, because through the media it continues to be made evident that much improvement is needed both in health and in education", showing his confidence that progress will be made in a short time horizon.
In his public intervention, Rollán has claimed the role of the Senate as a Chamber of territorial representation and has emphasized that, in the current legislature, "47 laws have been approved aimed at improving the conditions and quality of life of Spaniards". However, he has shown his displeasure because none of these norms have yet reached the plenary session of the Congress of Deputies for debate and voting, alluding to the absence of progress in the parliamentary processing and to the repeated extension of deadlines despite the relevance of the matters dealt with.
Rollán has also stressed that the Upper Chamber has allowed the autonomous communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla to make their voice heard, defending that territorial plurality is a factor of cohesion for the country as a whole. "We are a diverse, plural country full of accents", he has noted, before maintaining that this diversity must serve to strengthen a shared patriotism and not to fuel internal divisions. From Melilla, he has wanted to convey a message of hope, although without overlooking the difficulties that, in his view, Spain is facing today.
In his opinion, the country has demonstrated at different moments in its history that it is capable of overcoming major challenges when citizens move forward united and have responsible governments. "Whenever Spain and Spaniards have been aligned, whenever they have also had a serious, solvent Government, they have been capable of facing and overcoming the most ambitious challenges", he has stated. In that context, he has defended that Melilla must be placed in a prominent position within the State's priorities and has explained that his trip aims to reaffirm before the people of Melilla that the city matters and must be present on the national agenda.
The institutional day of Pedro Rollán has included a meeting with the Government of Melilla, the signing in the Gold Book of the City and his attendance at the wreath-laying ceremony in the cemetery of the Purísima Concepción on the occasion of All Souls’ Day. This year, the tribute has incorporated a specific remembrance for the sailors who gave their lives in defense of Melilla and for the architect Enrique Nieto, who are added to the group of citizens, workers, military personnel and victims of accidents to whom tribute is paid. Rollán has described as an honor being able to participate in this ceremony and has thanked the welcome extended by the president of the Autonomous City, Juan José Imbroda, whom he mentioned as "my dear friend".