The president of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas, has reiterated that the massive entry of immigrants on July 30 "could have been avoided" if "all the capacities of the State" had been put into action "in the area of prevention." He also emphasized that "it should have been avoided" because, in his opinion, "what is at stake is the territorial integrity of Spain."
"What is at stake is the cornerstone of our Constitution, what is at stake is our democracy," he stated this Monday in an interview on the program 'El Hormiguero' of Antena 3. During his intervention, he again pointed to Morocco as responsible for a "hybrid attack" that "does not recognize" the "sovereignty" of the autonomous cities.
As the Ceuta leader insisted, Rabat "has always sought the harassment and demolition of our two cities," describing the migration crisis as a true "invasion."
In another order of things, he criticized the lack of determination of the central Executive when it comes to resolving the cases of migrant people who are still in Ceuta pending return or asylum grant. He stressed that "it is a matter of will" and that "if it is not done, it is because it is not wanted."
Vivas recalled that, if in the past "millions of regularization cases" were processed "in a very short period of time," he asks "why is it not done to address the 10,000, 12,000, or 13,000 cases that are in Ceuta?".
Defense of the role of the King
The Ceuta president has defended that "the King and "the institution of the Crown" must be protected, considering it "one of the pillars" of the Constitution. He explained that he has spoken with the monarch "four times," one of them in person and the other three by phone.
He also assured that he does not know "any State authority that is more interested in what happens in Ceuta than His Majesty the King" and has called for avoiding the creation of "a climate of doubts" around the head of State.
Prior warning to Moncloa
Vivas explained that he alerted Moncloa in the days leading up to the crisis, upon detecting that the migratory flow was increasing constantly. "I had a meeting at the government delegation on the 27th, and I asked for the national security law to be activated," he recounted, "and I asked for a single command, and I asked for the reinforcement of the security bodies and forces."
He indicated that this request was transferred to the Ministry of the Interior, although they "told him that they needed 24 hours to be able to resolve it." "Since I did not want to add to the crisis we had at that time an institutional crisis, I was prudent," he added.
"After 24 hours they called me to tell me again that the single command would be exercised by the government delegate (...) and the next day, unfortunately, on Thursday, we had the invasion."
Border control and relationship with Morocco
The president of Ceuta has emphasized that one of the main "lessons" that the crisis leaves is that the border "must be in the hands of Spain and Europe," and not depend on Morocco. "It is not a reliable country and it is evident," he pointed out.
Government's relationship with Morocco and Sánchez
Vivas has avoided stating that Morocco has compromising information about the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez. "I cannot assure this because I do not have information," he said, although he reproached the Executive for an "extraordinary submission" to the neighboring country and that "it is publicly thanking Morocco for its good behavior" during the crisis.