Latest political news, live | The European PP reproaches Sánchez in Parliament for taking “weeks” to ask Brussels for help

Rufián, on Montero’s primary proposal: “Those who can do, let them do; those who can unite, let them unite”

The ERC spokesperson in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, stated this Tuesday that Irene Montero “has everything to be a great candidate.” “Hopefully we can do things together in Catalonia,” said the deputy, who confirmed he will run for Barcelona. “I would like there to be a front in Catalonia, I have always said so. I believe Catalonia can, once again, be an inspiration and reflection for other regions, other territories. And hopefully it can be done, I think the conditions are there. If I can help, welcome. And if I can also help to get candidates in other places in terms of presence, being there, perfect, but as a candidate, Catalonia,” he confirmed. Asked about the call for joint primaries made by the former minister this weekend, Rufián replied: “Those who can do, let them do; those who can unite, let them unite.”

The European PP reproaches Sánchez for taking “weeks” to ask Brussels for help

The Ceuta crisis also heats up the European Parliament. The debate held this Tuesday in Strasbourg was filled with mutual reproaches among all the political forces present. The largest of them, the European PP, began by reproaching the Spanish Government for the “weeks-long delay” in requesting help from the European Commission. This was done by its vice president, the Belgian Jeroen Lenaers, who began his speech emphasizing that “Ceuta is Europe.”

This last phrase was almost the only point on which, with different tones, almost all participants in the debate agreed. “Ceuta is Spain, it is Europe,” repeated the president of the socialist group, Iratxe Garcia Pérez. The Spaniard reproached the PP and the political families to its right for demanding the expansion of minors as “an attack on the rule of law,” after highlighting European solidarity with Italy, Poland, or Lithuania in situations similar to those suffered by the city in North Africa.

Sumar rejects the Government’s plan to expand airport capacities with “more emissions and tourist pressure”

Sumar rejects the Government’s plan to expand airport capacities. Sources from the group conveyed at midday that the Government’s minority partner has formally submitted observations to the third Airport Regulation Document (DORA III) at the Council of Ministers, considering that it “consolidates an airport growth model based on more emissions and more tourist pressure.”

In statements to the media, the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, justified the group’s opposition by stating that there are already “touristically overstrained” areas, which have generated discomfort and protests in “many cities” in Spain, and that it is “contrary to the fight against climate change,” as it triples the emission limits established to meet the climate goals set by the European Union. “We oppose this plan, which was already announced with an investment of more than 13 billion euros to continue indefinitely growing airport activity in our country.”

In the observations, Sumar also criticizes the way it has been processed: “Decisions that will condition the future of entire territories for decades have been made without the directly affected municipalities being part of the consultation mechanism provided in the DORA.” In the case of Barcelona-El Prat, they explain, the document commits 191.9 million for runway expansion and the new T1S and 459.4 million for the reconfiguration of T1, although the project is still far from being resolved: the Master Plan is still pending, environmental assessments are still in process, and the DORA itself refers to a later phase for the specific definition of the works.”

For Sumar, this situation reveals a fundamental contradiction: “Money starts to be put on the table before knowing exactly how, when, and if the expansion can be done.”

The group also emphasizes that the DORA does not make the expansion of El Prat “inevitable nor does it resolve the significant environmental, legal, and planning obstacles still ahead.” The observations also point out two other contradictions. The first, climatic: “It is not very useful to decarbonize terminals if at the same time capacity is increased to allow more planes to fly.” The second, territorial: “You cannot talk every day about housing, saturation of public services, and touristification and, at the same time, expand infrastructure without limits to bring more and more visitors.”

Puente, on the Supreme Court’s decision on the ‘grandchildren’s law’: “Those who question the impartiality of the judiciary are some judges”

The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, suggested that it is the judges themselves, with some decisions, such as suspending the voting rights of naturalized citizens under the so-called grandchildren’s law, who “question the impartiality of the judiciary,” not politicians with their statements. Asked about a statement from the conservative judicial association Francisco de Vitoria, against the criticisms from the Government about the Supreme Court’s decision, stating that it is “of extraordinary gravity” to claim that judges and courts make decisions for political rather than legal reasons.

Puente rebutted the statement by citing meetings of judges with PP representatives or statements from the magistrate rapporteur of the decision on the grandchildren’s law in favor of the PP taking government. “If judges hide behind politicians’ statements, close their eyes, and do not realize that those who question the impartiality of the judiciary are some judges, they make a mistake,” he said. According to Puente, citizens form their opinion based on what they hear and see, and “what we see does not lead us to think that some judicial decisions are impartial and [that judges] do not want to meddle in politics.” He also called for “some braver and more realistic statement from the judiciary when assessing what happens with some judicial rulings.”

Feijóo equates the Ceuta crisis with the war in Ukraine: “We want to ask Europe to defend its border”

The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has equated the massive entry of migrants into Ceuta, which has caused an unprecedented crisis in the autonomous city, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which triggered a war that has lasted more than four years. Feijóo, who seeks to bring the management of the situation in Ceuta before the European Union, asked this Tuesday from Madrid that “Europe defend its border.” “The southern border is as important as the eastern border. (…) We are protecting the eastern border even though Ukraine is not part of the European Union,” he stated, then demanding: “We have to tell our colleagues, regardless of their ideological stance, that the territorial integrity of Europe must be defended.”

PSOE accuses PP of questioning the electoral system for changing its position on the vote of Spaniards abroad

By Ana María Bosch Pla

The PSOE spokesperson, Patxi López, accuses the PP of questioning the electoral system due to its “radical change of position” on the vote of Spaniards abroad. The socialist spokesperson argues that the popular party has changed its stance on the nationality of descendants of exiles to compete with Vox and that with this they are questioning the democratic system itself. “How can a court grant nationality and take away the most sacred thing, which is the right to vote?” López insisted incredulously. He also criticized the People’s Party for “applying productivity criteria, absolutely economicist, to try to assess the health of the citizens of this country” and considered that, in his opinion, this management demands resignations from “all those involved and specifically, Mrs. Ayuso.”

The Government estimates that between 700 and 1,000 minors remain on the streets of Ceuta

Ángel Víctor Torres, Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, provided updated figures on unaccompanied minors in Ceuta during the press conference after the Council of Ministers. The Government estimates that the number of minors remaining on the city’s streets could be between 700 and 1,000. Meanwhile, the number of those already registered under regional guardianship is 2,048 children, 1,612 of whom arrived on July 30 with the massive entry of migrants.

The minister insisted, referring to adult migrants, that the sooner migrants are admitted to the facilities prepared by the Government for registration, “the sooner those who do not have the right to remain in the country can be returned.” In total, 4,160 people are being attended to in temporary places “subjected to triage and registration tasks.”

Feijóo proposes revoking nationality from those who commit serious crimes

The president of the People’s Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has confirmed that his party is working on an organic law project that regulates “the granting of nationality, its maintenance, and, if applicable, its loss.” According to him, his party proposes to revoke nationality from those who “belong to a criminal gang, a terrorist gang, or are repeat offenders of serious crimes such as sexual abuse, rape, or murder.”

“Nationality is an act of trust from Spain to a citizen born outside our country,” he argued. “Logically, (the citizen) must know that this trust is broken and that nationality will be revoked,” he explained during a press conference in Madrid.

The King recognizes the work of public servants and volunteers in the “situation of extraordinary complexity” in Ceuta

The King spoke this Tuesday for the first time about the migration crisis in Ceuta, a month and a half after the entry of tens of thousands of migrants, and amid uncertainty about his possible visit to the autonomous city. Felipe VI sent the message in Rivas (Madrid) at an event at the National Civil Protection School, where his work in various recent emergencies such as the Valencia DANA or the wave of fires was recognized. Before the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the King took the opportunity to also recognize the work of public servants and volunteers on Ceuta’s soil. “Major emergencies can be of all kinds. But I find it necessary, precisely now, to refer to a Spanish city that we all carry in our hearts and minds these days and to recognize the enormous work being done by the Civil Protection staff in Ceuta (with special mention to its local staff), in close coordination with other public servants and volunteers, in a situation undoubtedly of extraordinary complexity,” the King expressed.

“The work of these men and women generates the admiration of all Spaniards. As does the fact that Ceuta, once again an example of civility, has been the first territory in Spain to achieve 100% emergency training in its schools,” he added.

Belarra, on Montero’s candidacy for the general elections: “The proposal she makes is common sense”

The general secretary of Podemos, Ione Belarra, defended this Tuesday the proposal of her number two, Irene Montero, who launched her candidacy for the general elections on Saturday and said she would submit to open primaries, in a challenge to the rest of the left-wing organizations to choose their representative on a broad list. “The proposal that Irene Montero makes is common sense. I believe people are asking Irene and all left-wing organizations to get out of the loop; it is essential to get out of the loop. And for that, it is fundamental to use the democratic method. Whenever we have given the word to the people, whenever the protagonism and participation have been with the people, we have succeeded,” the deputy said during a press conference in Congress.

“From those open primaries, we would come out enormously strengthened, with the activation of the left, with five clear points that I believe are pure common sense, that the cost of living must go down, that houses are for living, that it is urgent to redistribute wealth,” she concluded.

Security forces launch an operation to detect migrants working illegally in Ceuta

The Civil Guard, National Police, and Labor Inspection in Ceuta have launched an operation to detect illegal labor occurring in the city following the massive entry on July 30 and 31. Agents have learned, mainly through a public complaint by the Confederation of Employers, that many migrants who entered the autonomous city are working improperly. Among these people are many former cross-border workers — a term used for Moroccans who entered daily to work in the city — who have taken advantage of the entry to re-access and recover their former jobs.

The intention is to carry out various inspections in places where it is known that these migrants, who lack any documentation to work legally in Spain, may be employed illegally. Police have found that many of these migrants hide in homes in exchange for rent payments, always fraudulently. The construction sector in Ceuta expressed its “concern” this Sunday in a statement about a series of circumstances that make them suspect that works are being done with unregulated labor, actions that, if prolonged, could significantly affect the activity of companies and self-employed workers and employment.

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The Ceuta Construction Employers Association has warned that it has detected a “considerable increase in small works and renovations of private homes.” The carrying out of work during night hours, the appearance and accumulation of debris in places where it previously did not occur, as well as certain difficulties or changes in the usual demand for basic material supply, are some of the signs that have generated this concern. (EFE)

Compromís doubts that the Ceuta crisis can be resolved by the end of the year

By Milagros Alonso

Àgueda Micó, a Compromís parliamentarian in the Mixed Group, questioned this Tuesday whether the migration crisis in Ceuta can normalize by the end of the year, as the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, assured yesterday in an interview on the program El Intermedio. “What will be resolved by the end of the year? It is a very extraordinary humanitarian crisis,” the deputy said. “I don’t know if Pedro Sánchez intends that to be his Christmas gift,” she joked.

“The problem is that they did not tackle the crisis at its root. The state of alarm should have been declared from the beginning. They arrived late and did it badly,” Micó said in a press conference in Congress.

Asked about the alleged blackmail from Morocco to Sánchez, the deputy said that “blackmail exists against the democratic institutions of the Spanish state and the European Union.” She also pointed out that “the fact that the Spanish state and the EU have outsourced their borders to countries that do not respect human rights causes blackmail to be possible.”

Six immigrants arrested in Ceuta in recent hours for robbery with violence, trespassing, and document forgery

The National Police has arrested six migrants in various interventions carried out since yesterday afternoon in Ceuta for alleged crimes of robbery with violence and injuries, trespassing, threats, document forgery, and against the rights of foreign citizens, according to the Superior Police Headquarters. The most recent action took place this Monday morning at the Temporary Stay Center for Immigrants (CETI), where agents arrested two residents for an alleged crime of robbery with violence and injuries committed against other migrants inside the facilities. The investigation remains open, and the facts are still being processed. As a result of the incident, one of the detainees had to be taken to the emergency service for medical assistance.

Hours earlier, around 1:00 a.m., the National Police arrested two other migrants on Reyes Católicos Avenue as alleged perpetrators of trespassing and threats. According to information provided by the Superior Headquarters, both tried to enter a house in the area and were reprimanded by the neighbors, which led to police intervention and their subsequent arrest.

The first action took place around 8:30 p.m. yesterday at the port of Ceuta. Agents intercepted two people trying to leave for the peninsula on a ship. During the routine police check of the vehicle, the police found that one of them was an irregular migrant with false documentation. The driver had his documentation in order, so he is accused of an alleged crime against the rights of foreign citizens.

Additionally, in the early hours of this Tuesday, tense moments were again experienced in the Tarajal warehouses, next to the Temporary Foreigners Attention Center (CATE). Numerous groups of immigrants participated in the confrontation, using sticks, stones, and bottles, with even fire outbreaks recorded during the disturbances. So far, no official information has been released about possible arrests or injuries related to these events. (EP)

Migration crisis

The Ceuta judge leaves the case against the Government delegate in the hands of the National Court

The complaint filed by Manos Limpias against the Government delegate in Ceuta, Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano, for managing the migration crisis will be in the hands of the National Court. The judge of the autonomous city who opened preliminary proceedings — a first step before opening a case to study if there are sufficient elements to continue with the investigations — has agreed to send the matter to Judge María Tardón, who is in charge of investigating the massive entry of migrants registered on July 30 and 31 for “seriously attacking the territorial integrity of Spain.”

You can read the full information here

Vox assures it will go “all the way” with the “absolutely arbitrary nationality granting” procedure

By Ana María Bosch Pla

Vox spokesperson Pepa Millán has assured that they will go “all the way” so that the courts declare the alleged fraud that, in their opinion, exists in the granting of nationalities. The party plans to act also on already granted nationalizations and expand the cases of loss of nationality if a future ruling determines that there was fraud. Additionally, it has accused the PP of inconsistency for now proposing to toughen the requirements to obtain nationality while abstaining last week in granting nationality to nearly 90,000 people. It has also announced that it has registered a bill to reform the National Defense Law and that illegal immigration and transnational terrorism be considered security threats. The party also demands the deployment of the Armed Forces at the border and the return of people who have entered Spain illegally.

BNG demands explanations from the Government about its relationship with Morocco: “It seems it was a personal decision of Pedro Sánchez”

By Ana María Bosch Pla

The spokesperson of the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG), Néstor Rego, avoided speculating on whether Morocco could have conditioned the Government’s policy on espionage with Pegasus on the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and several ministers, but demanded explanations from the Government leader both about his management of the Ceuta crisis and his position regarding Western Sahara. “On several occasions, we have asked [the Government] for explanations about their positions in relation to Morocco. Not only because of the Ceuta crisis but also because of Western Sahara. It seems it was a personal decision of Pedro Sánchez, because the government partners deny agreeing and even some PSOE leaders,” he asserted.

Compromís, on Podemos’ primary proposal: “Don’t reduce Spain to Madrid”

By Milagros Alonso

The spokesperson of Compromís, Alberto Ibáñez, considered today that Irene Montero’s initiative to hold open primaries to lead the left is “a proposal she makes for Madrid.” And he asked: “Don’t reduce Spain to Madrid.”

In a press conference in Congress, the deputy brought the debate to the situation in the Valencian Community. “We are advancing in a Valencian candidacy led by Compromís that includes the rest of the left,” he assured. At this point, he referred to the event held last Saturday in Valencia with the participation of Compromís, Podem, United Left, and Republican Left of the Valencian Country. “If our people think exactly the same, we must be able to set aside ego. From Valencia, we will have the best possible result that adds up for the plurinational left of our country,” he concluded.

Press conferences in the Congress of Deputies

Más Madrid deputy Tesh Sidi has rejected the thesis that Morocco is blackmailing the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, with sensitive information allegedly obtained from the attack on his mobile phone with Pegasus software. “It is a thesis that I reject right now because behind Pegasus is Israel,” she said before justifying that the president has been “quite forceful” in his stance against the genocide in Gaza. “If Israel really had information through that software, it would not hesitate to use it,” she said. For the parliamentarian, the “greatest threat” is “Morocco and the use of migration from a poor people.”

Ceuta crisis

The European PP hints at suspending the EU-Morocco agreement due to the Ceuta crisis

The political course in the EU also begins with the Ceuta crisis present. The European Parliament debates this Tuesday on “recent hybrid attacks and the instrumentalization of migrants in Ceuta,” followed by a vote on a resolution on this matter next Thursday. In the text presented by the European People’s Party, Morocco is demanded to “fulfill its responsibilities as a key EU partner and honor its commitments in border management, return, and migration cooperation.” It also adds, “any statement that questions Spanish sovereignty is unacceptable and incompatible with the obligations of a key partner.”

You can read the full information here

Más Madrid, on the list manipulation at Ramón y Cajal: “They are killing people”

Más Madrid deputy Tesh Sidi was very critical this Tuesday of the Madrid Community Government after EL PAÍS published that heads of Ramón y Cajal hospital ordered to downplay the severity of patients to manipulate their surgical waiting list. “They are killing people in Madrid. If we manipulate waiting lists, we are allowing people to die on a waiting list. This is the PP model, privatize and allow people to die with those privatizations,” the parliamentarian denounced in a press conference. For Sidi, it is a management model: “Prioritize public health and public services or Formula 1. Madrid needs quality public services, not ‘bread and circuses’ with events for the mega-rich,” she concluded.

Sumar avoids commenting on accusations about Morocco’s alleged blackmail of Sánchez

Sumar parliamentary spokesperson Verónica Barbero avoided commenting this Tuesday on whether she believes the theory that Morocco has sensitive information about President Pedro Sánchez obtained in the attack on his mobile phone with Pegasus software. “There is no argument to support today that Morocco is a reliable partner. But the truth is that outsourcing borders to Morocco, which does not respect human rights, is negative,” the deputy said. For Barbero, the situation in Ceuta is only solved by transferring children and adults to the peninsula to process their files. “Housing people in Ceuta for months in conditions that are not adequate is not a solution,” she reiterated.

Hate messages on social media increase by 76% following the migration crisis in Ceuta

Hate messages on social networks increased by 76% during August following the migration crisis in Ceuta, with a greater presence of hateful content against women, children, and unaccompanied adolescents. These are the main conclusions of the Spanish Observatory of Racism and Xenophobia (Oberaxe), dependent on the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration, which recorded 101,025 racist and xenophobic messages last month.

During August, 39% of the analyzed content was linked to the border crossing registered in Ceuta. The detected messages were mainly directed against migrants and people of North African origin. Additionally, citizen insecurity was present in 37% of the analyzed content.

According to Migration, the most frequent content presents migrants as a threat (43%). Dehumanizing content represents 37% of the total, and 58% of the content uses explicit aggressive language, manifested through insults, threats, and disqualifications. (Efe)

Cuca Gamarra, on the migrants from Ceuta: “If it weren’t for Europe’s pressure, they would all already be on the peninsula today”

The PP’s Deputy Secretary for Institutional Regeneration, Cuca Gamarra, thanked Europe’s “pressure” in the face of the migration crisis in Ceuta. “If it weren’t for Europe’s pressure, they would all already be on the peninsula today and more would be arriving,” she said in an interview on Telecinco. This Tuesday, the European Parliament debates the massive entry of July 30 and 31 and the “instrumentalization of migrants.”

Gamarra once again criticized the Government because it “did not act” nor “heeded the warnings.” “We do not know what kind of blackmail the Prime Minister may be subjected to for not being able to act as he should when your territorial integrity is violated,” she denounced.

Good morning. The PP will bring to the Senate plenary this Tuesday a motion that proposes a broad action plan for Ceuta after the serious crisis experienced on July 30 and 31, with measures in security, immigration, border, relations with Morocco, economy, and State presence. This is part of a new parliamentary offensive by the PP and Vox in the Congress and Senate with a battery of motions and questions to the Government about the crisis caused by that massive entry.

Additionally, the European Parliament debates the massive entry of migrants in Ceuta on July 30 and 31 and addresses the “instrumentalization of migrants” in the autonomous city, as well as the need for a coordinated response to protect the EU’s external borders.

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