Ceuta is far from returning to normality. The humanitarian emergency continues and the social crisis worsens. With various arguments, on September 2, Ceuta Day, there will be concentrations and demonstrations in different parts of Spain, in addition to a specific mobilization in the autonomous city and events called in front of the European Parliament in Brussels. The day does not respond to a single organization: institutional, neighborhood, and partisan initiatives will coincide, with different messages about the crisis that Ceuta is going through.
The most far-reaching call comes from the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), which has urged Spanish municipalities to hold concentrations on September 2 at 8:00 PM as a show of solidarity and support for Ceuta. The initiative is directed at municipalities across the country and its development subsequently depends on the adherence and organization of each council.
From this general call, numerous municipalities have announced their participation. Among the officially confirmed events are concentrations in cities such as Murcia, Teruel, and San Sebastián de los Reyes, in addition to other locations that have been approving or communicating their adherence in recent days. In the province of Cádiz, concentrations have also been announced in different municipalities, including Cádiz, Algeciras, Jerez, El Puerto de Santa María, and Los Barrios.
Vox has also asked its supporters to attend the planned concentrations in front of the town halls on September 2. The party uses the slogan for this mobilization "No to the invasion. Defend Ceuta. Defend Spain", different from the institutional approach used by the FEMP in its call to the municipalities.
In this way, part of the planned concentrations in the same squares and in front of the same town halls may gather participants mobilized under different calls or messages. The coincidence of date does not imply that all organizations share the same political diagnosis or the same demands.
Ceuta will have its own demonstration
The autonomous city itself will have a mobilization distinct from the concentrations promoted by the FEMP. The Provincial Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Ceuta has called for a demonstration that will begin at 7:00 PM at the Royal Walls and will conclude in the Plaza de los Reyes, where the reading of a manifesto is planned.
The neighborhood organization has spread the call under the slogans "Ceuta is not for sale, Ceuta defends itself" and "The people save the people." The federation presents the march as a peaceful mobilization and outside of ideological and religious affiliations.
The date is also concentrating initiatives that have arisen outside of the institutions. Some associations have decided to adapt their own calls to coincide with September 2nd and thus increase participation in the day of mobilization for Ceuta.
One of the cases is that of the Asociación de Vecinos Asistente Arjona, from Seville, which moved up a protest that was initially scheduled for September 3rd to the 2nd. The entity explained that the change aimed to add its mobilization to the concentration that will be held that day in front of the City Hall of Seville.
Brussels will also have concentrations for Ceuta
The day will also move to Brussels. The Popular Party has called for a concentration on September 2nd at 12:00 hours in Place du Luxembourg, next to the European Parliament, and has invited the rest of the political forces to participate in the event as a show of solidarity with Ceuta.
Vox has also announced a concentration in the same place and at the same time. The two formations thus coincide in the scenario and in the date, although they are calls driven from their respective organizations.
PSOE, left, ERC, and Junts question the FEMP call
The groups of PSOE, IU-Compromís-Comuns-Podemos, ERC, and Junts in the FEMP have issued a joint statement questioning whether the president of the federation, María José García-Pelayo, made the call without a prior agreement from the governing bodies of the organization.
The signing formations do not reject solidarity with Ceuta, but maintain that an initiative of this type should have been adopted through consensus within the municipalist institution. The disagreement has been reflected in some city councils: that of Jaén, governed by the PSOE, announced that it would not join the concentration considering that the call was made without the socialists, although it expressed its support for the citizens and institutions of Ceuta.
The PSOE of Castilla-La Mancha has also criticized the way the initiative was promoted and has demanded a consensual institutional declaration on the situation in Ceuta.