The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, is scheduled to declare this Tuesday the "situation of interest for national security" in light of the crisis caused by the massive entry of more than 80,000 migrants in Ceuta through the border with Morocco.
The decision will be made after an extraordinary meeting of the National Security Council focused on the Ceuta crisis, convened 26 days after the arrival of immigrants at the end of July. This meeting will be attended, in addition to the president of the autonomous city, Juan Jesús Vivas, by a total of 17 ministers, including the heads of the three Vice Presidencies of the Executive.
The first vice president and minister of Economy, Trade and Business, Carlos Cuerpo, was the one who announced the activation of this figure, which in practice implies the highest level of severity in the field of civil protection, and confirmed that the minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, will assume the single command, as Vivas had been demanding.
As the first vice president explained, this decision will mark "a before and an after" in the management of the migrants who remain in the autonomous city after the entry of 80,000 people between July 30 and 31.
"We hope that the coordination that this single command will allow will make this repatriation, in those cases that are necessary, as quick as possible and that the management of the files of minors and of those who have the right to asylum will also be as quick as possible," he emphasized, highlighting the importance of cooperation among all the administrations involved.
Cuerpo stressed the urgency of "resolving as soon as possible, diligently and efficiently" the situation of all these cases, with the aim of "repatriating those who do not have the right to remain in our country and adequately accommodating minors and those asylum seekers who do," always with "all guarantees," both in humanitarian and legal terms.
In this context, the minister of Economy thanked Vivas for "the willingness to move forward and participate in these two initiatives," referring to the single command and the shock measures, and emphasized that the Executive is "fully aware that the people of Ceuta are having a hard time."
Specific shock plan for Ceuta
Body also advanced this Monday a package of "shock measures" in response to the situation that Ceuta is experiencing after the massive entry of migrants a few weeks ago. These actions will include the reinforcement of security, the management of returns, and the "revitalization" of the economy of the autonomous city.
La Moncloa plans to hold several meetings throughout this week with social agents, associations, the most relevant economic sectors, and the Ceuta Government itself, in order to "land immediately" the shock measures and ensure that "they can be presented and approved as soon as possible."