La Línea and Algeciras plan demos in solidarity with Ceuta

This article has been updated on Monday, August 31.

Public gatherings will be held in Algeciras and La Línea on September 2 following a call from an organisation representing Spanish local government bodies.

The demonstrations will aim to signal solidarity with Ceuta and the migrant crisis it faces, coinciding with that city’s festival day.

The demonstrations come after some 72,000 people surged into Ceuta from Morocco earlier this summer, plunging the city into crisis. At least 96 people died.

Most of the migrants who entered Ceuta later returned voluntarily but Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday that around 5,000 remained in the city, many of them juveniles.

That has plunged the Spanish north African enclave into an uncertain situation, upending its normal daily life and fuelling fears about safety and security, increasing tensions between citizens and migrants amid calls for their return to Morocco.

Opposition parties have accused Madrid of failing to manage the crisis effectively, while Ceuta's residents have complained of feeling unsafe on the streets and abandoned in the face of the burden being placed on public services in a city that has long offered solidarity to migrants.

In an interview on Cadena Ser on Monday, Mr Sanchez insisted his government was responding to a “very complex” situation, including strengthening border infrastructure as it processes remaining migrants some of whom may be eligible for asylum.

Mr Sanchez also addressed claims that Morocco was behind the surge, insisting Moroccan authorities had cooperated once the scale of the surge became evident.

Mr Sanchez said the crisis had been worsened by disinformation on social media, fuelled by the international far-right and by social networks in Russia and Israel.

“After July 30 and 31, there was a spread of rumors and disinformation, from social networks linked both to Russia and to Israel, and to an ultra-right international that always uses migration not only to attack Spain, but also to attack Europe and divide it,” he said.

Mr Sanchez claimed it was “evident” that Spain was being criticised for its stance on wars in Ukraine and the MIddle East.

On Monday, El Pais reported that Spanish intelligence agencies believed that further “grey zone” hostile actions targeting Ceuta and Melilla were likely in the coming months, warning of the risk of disinformation, cyberattacks and the potential for future migrant surges.

According to El Pais, Spanish intelligence services do not believe Morocco organised this summer’s migrant surge into Ceuta despite its passivity in the early stage, noting that in a similar, albeit far smaller incident in 2021, Morocco had tacitly acknowledged its role.

The newspaper’s sources also rejected widely reported claims that the surge was in response to a trip Mr Sanchez made in the preceding days to Algeria, Morocco’s principal regional rival.

But the same sources said Morocco was using the crisis to reinforce its claim over Ceuta and Melilla.

“Contrary to the interpretation of many media outlets, these services do not link the events of July 30 and 31 to the visit made to Algeria just a few days earlier by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez,” the newspaper reported.

“They do, however, link them to the agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union, which has changed Gibraltar’s status by associating the Rock with the Schengen area, whose border controls are the responsibility of Spain.”

“This has led Moroccan media to also raise the possibility of a change in the status of the two autonomous cities.”

CAMPO DEMOS

In La Línea on Wednesday, councillors will respond to the Federación Española de Municipios y Provincias’ (FEMP) request by gathering outside the council building at noon to read a declaration expressing solidarity with the people of Ceuta and support for the city.

Members of the public are being invited to join mayor Juan Franco, councillors and representatives of all the city’s political parties.

A second gathering will take place at 8pm outside the council hall, with residents again invited to express their support for the people of Ceuta.

Mr Franco has called on La Línea’s residents to take part in the initiative “to show La Línea’s sympathy with Ceuta as a border city which coexists with a different country. And, in the case of Ceuta, this is creating very serious problems.”

La Línea 100x100, Mr Franco’s party, will also table a motion at the next council session expressing solidarity over the migrant crisis.

The motion will highlight the geographical, social and economic links between Ceuta and La Línea, stating that “both cities form part of a same territorial reality, the Strait of Gibraltar, a unique space where two continents converge, as well as relevant people and goods flows, an external European Union border and special geopolitical, economic and social circumstances.”

The motion will also state that “both cities know the consequences arising from a unique geographical and location on a border”, offering all political parties an opportunity to unite in solidarity with Ceuta and recognise the efforts of that city’s citizens, agencies and NGOs.

It will go on to say that La Línea’s experience shows how “location determines the daily reality and possibilities of development for a city”, and argue that, to achieve equality of social and economic development across Spain, the challenges faced by individual regions must be taken into account, and that specific geographical characteristics may require tailor-made responses from central government agencies.

La Línea 100x100 will call on Spain and the EU to study the geographical and geopolitical circumstances affecting Ceuta and La Línea de la Concepción and respond with through appropriate measures and mechanisms for cooperation and support.

The motion also urges the EU to continue working towards a common migration policy based on cooperation and shared responsibility between member states, with particular attention and support for external border territories.

If passed, the motion will also call for coordinated responses to ensure the proper care and protection of unaccompanied minors and communicate the council’s deliberations to Ceuta, Spanish national and regional governments, FEMP and the relevant EU authorities.

In Algeciras, the council will gather outside city hall at 8pm.

Algeciras mayor Jose Ignacio Landaluce said: “More than ever we must stand besides our Ceutan countrymen and give them all our support, channelled through their president, Juan Jesus Vivas.”

“We must send them our solidarity, and the hope that normality comes back as soon as possible to the ‘Pearl of the Mediterranean’.”

“We unconditionally support this gathering, which we will do under the Ceuta flag to remind us of the terrible situation that the people of Ceuta are going through.”

“We expect that our fraternal and solidarity will reach them from this shore of the Strait,” Mr Landaluce said.