About twenty municipalities governed by the PSOE and IU organize alternative gatherings to the protest for Ceuta called by the PP

About twenty Spanish municipalities governed by the PSOE and IU have decided to organize, in solidarity with Ceuta, alternative demonstrations to the protest called by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) for Wednesday at eight in the evening. This mobilization, announced by its president, María José García Pelayo (PP), generated rejection from the other political groups represented in that organization. Among the parallel calls, those that will take place in Andalusia stand out, which will be at least 14: in Espartinas and Los Palacios (in Seville); Moguer, Bonares and Santa Olalla del Cala (Huelva); Armilla, Íllora, Cúllar Vega and Salar (Granada); Chiclana, Grazalema or Trebujena (Cádiz); Úbeda (Jaén) and Adamuz (Córdoba). But town halls in Castilla y León, the Valencian Community and Extremadura have also joined. Their mayors have justified their decision due to the controversy caused by the “non-consensual” call of the FEMP and for that reason most have chosen to hold them on days other than September 2 or on the same day, but at noon, so as not to coincide with the demonstrations supported by the PP.

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Sources close to the Espartinas City Council (16,574 inhabitants), which is governed by the socialist Cristina Los Arcos with an absolute majority, explain to this newspaper that, to “avoid that political noise,” a “recognition act to the people of Ceuta” has been set for this Tuesday, Ceuta Day, at noon. They emphasize that it is a call “without any other proclamation or objective,” unlike what they consider the FEMP, PP and Vox seek, whom they accuse of trying to turn the event into “a trial with a popular jury against the government of Spain, rather than showing support and solidarity for Ceuta.” The mayor appeared alongside the councilor for Social Policies, Gema Gamir, a native of Ceuta, in a video on social networks encouraging the people of Espartinas to attend the demonstration.

Those same sources emphasize that this call has no character of “rebellion” in response to those who have wanted to see the demonstration as a challenge to the leadership of the Andalusian PSOE, which has called not to participate in acts “instrumentalized” by the PP. This is the same line defended by the socialist mayor of the town of Armilla (25,259 inhabitants), Loli Cañavate, who stressed to this newspaper that the gathering, which will also be held this Tuesday, has “its own character and message.” “We do not want to talk about political parties or political differences, we want to show our solidarity with Ceuta.”

For his part, the socialist mayor of Moguer (24,014 inhabitants), Gustavo Cuéllar, has stated that he has received “no restriction” from his party’s leadership regarding the call for the demonstration, while defending his party’s tradition in favor of freedom of expression and assembly. The mayor, who governs with an absolute majority, framed the mobilization in the need for greater cooperation between administrations to face the challenges linked to migratory flows. His own town, Moguer, is an example, he explained, as it is a population that increases significantly during agricultural campaigns, which requires strengthening health, social and security services.

There the demonstration will be at eight in the evening, as in Grazalema, where its mayor, the socialist Carlos Javier García, also wanted to distance himself from the political confrontation and defended his participation in the gatherings on social networks: “We do it to raise our voice against the political confrontation that some have insisted on maintaining day after day in this country, now trying to make many of the gatherings on the 2nd a political instrument of some against others. I insist: not here.”

García recalled that his municipality, which had to be evacuated after a series of storms that flooded much of the Andalusian provinces at the end of last January, knows well what it means to receive affection when times are hard “and therefore we understand that sending some encouragement to the people of Ceuta is what is now in our hands to do.” Encouragement that was also received by the residents of Adamuz, the town in Córdoba where 46 people died on January 18 after a train derailment that collided with another convoy. Its mayor, also from the PSOE, Rafael Moreno, also defended that their gathering, this Tuesday at 12, “is institutional and in support of Ceuta. We dissociate ourselves from any political connotation that is being given to this issue,” he said.

Also in Andalusia, the Úbeda City Council (Jaén), governed by the PSOE, has called for the reading of a manifesto this Wednesday at La Central “as a meeting space” so that citizens can express their support for Ceuta. “We want it to be a citizen act shared by this institution with its neighbors, an open act, a plural act, without acronyms, without symbolism, simply supporting the people of Ceuta,” explained the first deputy mayor, Francisco Javier Lozano, in a statement.

Alternative dates

Other Andalusian town halls governed by IU have also organized gatherings, but have chosen to dissociate them from September 2, to show their rejection of the “non-consensual” call by the FEMP, as Juanma Valle, mayor of the Sevillian town of Los Palacios and Villafranca (38,778 inhabitants), has made clear, calling for a joint response from all public administrations to face the Ceuta crisis.

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Its leader, the federal coordinator of IU and parliamentary spokesperson for Por Andalucía, Antonio Maíllo, has confirmed, as have the general secretary of PSOE-A, María Jesús Montero, and the leader of Adelante Andalucía, José Ignacio García, that they will not attend the flag-raising of Ceuta in the regional Parliament this Wednesday, called by the president of the entity, Ana Mestre (PP), as a show of solidarity with the autonomous city. The three leaders, in line with their parties’ leaderships, consider it a unilaterally organized event that seeks to politically instrumentalize the migratory crisis.

Castilla y León, Valencian Community and Extremadura

Alternative gatherings to the FEMP’s are also scheduled for this Wednesday in other autonomous communities. The mayor of León, José Antonio Díez (PSOE), has announced that he will attend an event in support of Ceuta promoted by civil society.

In the Valencian Community, the Sagunto City Council has reported that it will participate this Wednesday in a gathering at twelve. During the event, an institutional manifesto in solidarity with Ceuta “in defense of human rights will be read and a minute of silence will be held in memory of the people who lost their lives on July 30,” according to the council in a statement. The Gandía council has also called an institutional gathering for Wednesday; it was agreed in a meeting held this Tuesday which Vox did not attend.

Two other town halls, in this case in Extremadura, have also proposed alternative events to those supported by the PP. Under the slogan “Mérida with Ceuta,” the socialist government of the Extremadura city has called a gathering in support of the people of Ceuta for this Wednesday at twelve in Plaza de España. At the same time, they will gather at the door of the Almendralejo City Hall (Badajoz) because “supporting Ceuta cannot mean being against anyone or turning a cause that should unite into an instrument of political confrontation,” as the council indicated on Facebook.

With information from Javier Arroyo (Granada), Jesús Cañas (Cádiz), Santiago González (Huelva), María José Martínez (Córdoba), Eva Saiz (Seville), Milagros Alonso (Madrid), Ana María Bosch Pla (Madrid), Juan Molina Sebastián (Madrid) and Fernando Criado Granados (Madrid).

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