CEUTA, Spain – Defence Minister Margarita Robles on Wednesday reaffirmed Spain’s sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla, declaring that “any aggression against Ceuta and Melilla is an aggression against Spain as a whole,” while avoiding confirmation of whether she will appear before the Senate next week to brief on the migration crisis triggered by the mass entry of migrants from Morocco.
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During a brief media appearance during her visit to Ceuta, Robles emphasised that the events of July 30 “must not happen again” and stressed that Ceuta and Melilla “are not just Spanish, they are utterly Spanish.” “That is precisely why no one touches them,” she asserted.
The minister’s remarks came after Moroccan Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi insisted in an interview on Tuesday that the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla remains a “pending” issue for Morocco, stating that its resolution should be addressed “in the long term” through dialogue. “Every time we meet with Spain, we raise the issue. We continue to claim our territories,” he told Asharq News. When asked whether she would appear before the Senate on August 18, following an agreement with the Upper House president Pedro Rollán, Robles declined to give a direct answer, stating: “We are in Ceuta talking about Ceuta.”
Robles warned that she expects “the full weight of the law to fall on the mafias and on those who are manipulating and handling these people.” “Eighty thousand people entered here, and many of these people are being used and manipulated by the mafias,” she elaborated, emphasising the importance of the involvement of the entire European Union.
The minister insisted on the need to prevent a recurrence of the late July events and expressed gratitude for the work of Ceuta’s president, Juan Jesús Vivas. She also conveyed her “pride” in the Armed Forces, assuring that they would remain “at the disposal of the security forces for whatever is necessary.” “Ceuta is their home,” she said.
Robles’s visit was also marked by protests from some residents. On her arrival at the Autonomous Palace, a retired healthcare worker, in tears, pleaded with her not to “abandon” the city. “We have been left abandoned, left to our fate. We have felt mistreated,” she said. The woman conveyed to the minister the fear she has felt since the mass entry of migrants. “I live alone and have never felt like this. Locking windows, locking doors, checking everything. I barely slept last night. I grabbed a knife because I’m scared,” she recounted. She also insisted that Ceuta is as Spanish as any other city and regretted that, in her view, the situation has not yet returned to normal.
Robles responded by consoling the resident and thanking her for her testimony, expressing that she “feels” for what has happened in the city. She also remembered those who died during the mass entry and affirmed that she had personally witnessed “the concern, the anguish, and the suffering” of the people of Ceuta, assuring them: “We will not abandon you.” Other attendees took the opportunity to criticise the government’s management, with boos and whistles directed at the Executive.
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Following his meeting with Robles, Ceuta’s president, Juan Jesús Vivas, renewed his demand for the “immediate” return of irregular migrants remaining in the city following the July 30 mass entry and called for the necessary legislative measures to overcome what he sees as legal obstacles to executing those returns. Vivas stated that Ceuta’s situation is “unsustainable” and “getting worse every day,” calling for a greater deployment of State Security Forces. “I still cannot understand how, after what happened here, there has not been a deployment of State Security Forces commensurate with what was occurring. I cannot say I am calmer because I am not. There should have been a forceful and energetic response so that Ceutans would feel safe, so that what is happening in some neighbourhoods, where security depends on the neighbours themselves, would not occur,” he lamented. Regarding Morocco’s role in the assault, he insisted that “it is impossible” for the country “not to have known what was being organised,” though he urged that the focus now should be on the return of “all” irregular migrants, which “depends on Morocco accepting them.” “After all this, we will not consider the matter closed. Lessons must be drawn from what happened,” he warned.
