Sánchez Calls National Security Council 26 Days Into Ceuta Crisis
- Pedro Sánchez will chair a National Security Council meeting on Tuesday, 26 days after around 80,000 migrants entered Ceuta irregularly on 30 and 31 July.
- More than 5,000 people, including approximately 2,900 minors, remain in provisional camps and on the streets of Ceuta.
- Ceuta's President Juan Jesús Vivas will attend the session via video link, ahead of the government's first Cabinet meeting since the summer recess.
Pedro Sánchez will chair a National Security Council meeting on Tuesday morning to address the continuing crisis in Ceuta, convened 26 days after approximately 80,000 migrants entered the autonomous city irregularly on 30 and 31 July.
Thousands Still in Makeshift Camps
More than 5,000 people remain in provisional camps and on the streets of Ceuta, among them around 2,900 minors. A return to normality in the city appears, as yet, distant, with no resolution in sight for the large numbers still sheltering informally across the territory.
Council Meets Before Cabinet Resumes
The session is scheduled to begin at 8.30am, ahead of the first full Cabinet meeting since the summer recess. Juan Jesús Vivas, President of Ceuta, has been summoned to attend and will participate via video link. The timing of the National Security Council convening — three and a half weeks into the crisis — marks the first formal top-level response of this kind to an episode that has placed significant strain on Spain's migration policy and generated sustained political pressure over the government's handling of the situation in the enclave bordering Morocco.
Tuesday's meeting marks Sánchez's third formal session to address the Ceuta crisis; he chaired two telematic meetings with ministers on 7 and 17 August to assess the situation and co-ordinate the government's response. The National Security Council gathering will also be attended by the Chief of the Defence Staff, the director of Spain's national intelligence service, and the director of national security. A schedule of ministerial appearances before parliamentary committees has also been confirmed for the week: Defence Minister Margarita Robles is set to appear before her committee at 12.30pm on Tuesday, with Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Foreign Affairs Minister José Manuel Albares, and several other cabinet members following across Thursday, Friday, and Monday.
