Reactions are pouring in as the Spanish government struggles to respond to the latest influx of illegal immigrants spurred by regional unrest and lax border policies.
As LifeSiteNews reported Thursday, viral videos showed migrants from Morocco overrunning beaches in the small Spanish territory of Ceuta, where regional government President Juan Jesús Vivas said local migrant reception centers were being overwhelmed, with “hundreds” sleeping on the streets, urging the national government to declare a national emergency and send forces to help “guarantee the inviolability of the frontier and citizen safety.”
Socialist Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he was “mobilizing all necessary resources,” but the Spanish interior ministry claimed it could not declare a state of emergency as migration flows are not legally considered a qualifying national security risk.
The Daily Mail reported that the situation has progressed to unrest in the streets, with locals moving to protest and push back the trespassers, estimated by Vivas at more than 1,500 (other counts have put the number much higher, at more than 60,000).
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“Many were seen waving Spanish flags and screaming at them,” the Mail reported. “As a group of migrants were seen running away, a loud police siren was heard in the background.” The National Police union Jupol issued a statement bemoaning the “clear lack of personnel and material resources” to deal with the situation.
Spain confirmed Friday that it is sending troops to “reinforce the Civil Guard in the exercise of its powers and any others that may be necessary to maintain security in the city of Ceuta,” the interior ministry said, and would be working with the Moroccan government to return the migrants “as soon as possible.”
But several authorities outside Spain are calling for further action.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni threatened to suspend free movement between Italy and Spain. “The images coming from Ceuta are striking and demonstrate, once again, that uncontrolled illegal immigration poses a concrete threat to the security of Europe’s borders,” she said. “Italy will not stand by and watch. We are convening the relevant bodies, and following these meetings, we are prepared to intervene with extraordinary measures to defend the borders and the safety of citizens, including the suspension of the Schengen Zone with Spain.”
Even Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, declared, “We cannot allow anyone to come to our Union without abiding by our rules. Dangerous crossings must stop immediately. Smuggling networks must be dismantled. And returns must be swift, as our rules allow.”
“I tasked two Commissioners to support to control (sic) the situation,” she added, Magnus Brunner and Dubravka Šuica.
“Recent polls consistently show the PSOE (Sanchez’s socialist party) at historic lows for this legislature, consistently at 26-27 percent,” RedState’s Kyle Becker noted. “The Sanchez regime has been plagued by corruption scandals, and many observers believe the prime minister could be pushed out by the end of the year.”
