Around 500 people gathered in front of the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday to protest against the Spanish government’s handling of the crisis in Ceuta, where several thousand of more than 70,000 migrants who arrived in the exclave on 30 July remain.
MEPs and staffers from the centre-right European People’s Party and far-right Patriots for Europe gathered in the area in front of Parliament, waving the flags of Ceuta and Spain, and accusing Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of failing to defend Spain’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Two separate demonstrations were launched by Spain’s Popular Party and Vox in Brussels on Ceuta Day. Despite being organised separately, both gatherings took place at the same time and in the same location, with EPP and PfE lawmakers standing side by side.
“Sánchez has handed over responsibility for the security of Ceuta to a third country,” EPP vice-president Dolors Montserrat told reporters, claiming the Spanish Prime Minister “is bowing” to Morocco.
Online newspaper El Español reported on Wednesday that Spain's National Centre for Immigration and Borders (CENIF) had concluded the incident "was guided by Moroccan security forces", contradicting Sánchez’s stance that there is no proof of any involvement by the authorities in Rabat.
