{"id":579099,"date":"2026-08-01T16:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T16:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/579099\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T16:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T16:39:11","slug":"spanish-pm-calls-for-urgent-eu-meeting-after-selfish-responses-to-ceuta-crisis-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/579099\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish PM calls for urgent EU meeting after \u2018selfish\u2019 responses to Ceuta crisis \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spain<\/a>\u2019s prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez<\/a>, has called for an urgent meeting of EU<\/a> interior ministers after what he called some member states\u2019 \u201cselfish, polarising and unlawful reaction\u201d to this week\u2019s mass border crossing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta<\/a>, in North Africa.<\/p>\n

It comes after he confirmed \u201cvirtually all\u201d the irregular migrants had been returned, \u201cpreventing any unauthorised onward movement towards continental Europe\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, he has asked for the meeting following what appears to be a breakdown of EU unity on external border policy, with Italy attacking Spain.<\/p>\n

More than 50,000 people crossed into the territory from Morocco on Thursday and Friday, with at least 67 people dying in the attempt. Some drowned, while others were crushed as they tried to cross a breakwater barrier.<\/p>\n

Although more than 48,000 people had voluntarily returned to Morocco by 6pm on Friday, the influx triggered a political crisis for the Madrid government and led some fellow EU countries to call for Spain to be suspended from the Schengen free-movement zone.<\/p>\n

Italy announced on Friday evening that it would suspend its Schengen arrangements with Spain, even though Ceuta \u2013 and Spain\u2019s other north African enclave, Melilla \u2013 are subject to special Schengen rules that prevent onward movement within the zone.<\/p>\n

Italy<\/a>\u2019s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, blamed the situation in Ceuta on the S\u00e1nchez government\u2019s decision to offer a now-closed scheme to regularise the status of more than 1 million undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. He said the programme had incentivised human trafficking and was \u201cprofoundly wrong\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tajani\u2019s remarks prompted a sharp response from Spain\u2019s foreign minister, Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albares, who said the comments were \u201cunbecoming\u201d and accused Italy of \u201cpartisan demagoguery\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"MigrantsMigrants return to Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Friday. Photograph: Antonio Sempere\/AP <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Spain sends extra troops to Ceuta after thousands of people swim into territoryOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez was equally forthright in a letter sent to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Council president, Ant\u00f3nio Costa, and Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin.<\/p>\n

In the letter, the Spanish prime minister said he had been deeply concerned by the reaction some EU governments had shown to events in Ceuta.<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez said that while most had expressed support and solidarity, others had chosen to attack Spain and call for its temporary exclusion from the Schengen area.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch an attitude \u2013 driven by prejudice, fake news, ignorance or political interest \u2013 is … contrary to European law, humanitarian law, and the principles of solidarity that bind us together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In a pointed rebuke to Italy, he noted that Spain was \u201caccording to Frontex, one of the least porous external borders of the European Union, with a number of irregular entries that is half that recorded, for example, in Italy in recent years (2021\u20132026)\u201d.<\/p>\n

Thousands of migrants streamed into the Moroccan town of Fnideq near the border with \u200bCeuta overnight. Video: Reuters <\/p>\n

He concluded by saying the EU could not afford \u201cthis kind of selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction\u201d and asked for an urgent video conference of EU interior ministers to address the issue.<\/p>\n

Senior EU officials are due to meet on Saturday in a \u201cpolitical crisis response team\u201d convened by Ireland\u2019s presidency. The meeting is designed to help member states make clear responses using expert opinion.<\/p>\n

Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan, who is leading the meeting on behalf of the EU, said he had been in touch with Spain\u2019s interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to express his solidarity and support.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will remain in close contact with the Spanish government, member states and the EU institutions as the situation evolves,\u201d he said on Friday night.<\/p>\n

Ireland holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union from July 1st until the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Many of the remaining people who crossed into Ceuta returned to Morocco on Saturday morning amid a reinforced Spanish police and military presence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to go to Europe to work and earn a living \u2013 that\u2019s it,\u201d Souleil Boyan, a 19-year-old from Senegal, told Agence France-Presse outside a migrant centre in Ceuta where dozens of other people from sub-Saharan Africa were waiting for officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know that in Africa there isn\u2019t much opportunity,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"Spain'sSpain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez. Photograph: Jaime Reina\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

The Spanish government said in a statement that the situation in Ceuta remained calm and quiet.<\/p>\n

\u201cFriday night passed without incident,\u201d it said. \u201cEntries were completely halted, while departures to Morocco continued without any notable events.\u201d<\/p>\n

It said containment barriers were being installed at the Tarajal beach breakwater, including a 500-metre-long inflatable barrier and a line of anchored buoys.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s mass crossing dwarfs the last similar event in May 2021, when Morocco loosened its border controls, allowing about 10,000 people to enter the territory over the course of two days.<\/p>\n

That crossing came amid heightened tensions between Madrid and Rabat over Spain\u2019s decision to allow the leader of the Western Sahara independence movement, the Polisario Front, to be treated for Covid-19 in Spain. Morocco and the Polisario Front both lay claim to Western Sahara, which was under Spanish rule until 1975, when colonial authorities handed over the territory to Morocco and Mauritania.<\/p>\n

That diplomatic crisis ended in 2022 when Madrid reversed its long-standing policy of neutrality and backed Morocco\u2019s plan for Western Sahara \u2013 a move that had caused a diplomatic rift between Spain and Algeria, which had supported the Polisario group.<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez visited Algiers on 20 July \u2013 the first visit by a Spanish head of government in four years \u2013 marking a thaw in relations with Algeria.<\/p>\n

\"MigrantsMigrants return to Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Photograph: Antonio Sempere\/AP <\/p>\n

The Spanish government has attributed the latest influx to \u201chuman trafficking mafias\u201d that have taken advantage of a decision by Spain\u2019s supreme court, which recently ruled that those intercepted at sea while trying to enter Ceuta, or Spain\u2019s other north African enclave of Melilla, could not be summarily returned under special rules.<\/p>\n

But some migration experts have expressed doubts about that explanation. Mauricio Valiente, the director general of the Spanish Refugee Aid Commission, said the route into Ceuta was very different from the Atlantic route from Africa to the Canary Islands, which is often operated by people smugglers.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what we\u2019re seeing, these are people who buy a float and jump into the sea,\u201d he told elDiario.es.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes no sense. It\u2019s important to keep in mind \u2013 and this also explains the concentration of these incidents \u2013 that unlike what happens in the Canary Islands, these aren\u2019t people who have to get into a small boat. This is a matter of being just metres from a land border, jumping into the sea and trying to get around a breakwater, which makes it much easier to do, even with all the risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valiente also said there had been a steady increase in arrivals to Ceuta this year, even before the supreme court ruling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe causes are complex, and there are surely many reasons,\u201d he said. \u201cBut to simplify it by referencing the court ruling or organised crime \u2013 to say there\u2019s a direct cause-and-effect relationship \u2013 is completely unfounded.\u201d – Guardian<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Italy suspends EU Schengen free-travel pact with Spain over Ceuta crisisOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spain\u2019s prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, has called for an urgent meeting of EU interior ministers after what he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5148,42,102,43,32238,2846,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-579099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-european-union","tag-headlines","tag-italy","tag-news","tag-pedro-sanchez","tag-spain","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}