Alberto Nunez Feijó, leader of the People’s Party, chose Ceuta to symbolically launch his election campaign ahead of Spain’s parliamentary elections on November 29.
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During his visit, Feijó criticized how the socialist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has handled the migration crisis that engulfed Ceuta in July.
In a joint speech with Juan Jesús Vivas, president of the government of Ceuta, he said his presence in the territory at the start of the campaign fulfilled a promise to bring Ceuta “back to normality.”
Feijó described Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous territory in North Africa, as a sign of the “decadence, corruption and lies” that, he said, have gripped Spain under Sanchez, who has been in power since 2018.
On July 30 and 31, more than 70,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, swimming or traveling on foot. Authorities in Madrid and Rabat reported a massive and unprecedented influx, during which more than 100 people died, mostly at sea.
Since then, most of the migrants have returned to Morocco.
However, thousands more are still in Ceuta. To deal with the situation, authorities have increased the presence of police and military forces, while conditions have deteriorated and been accompanied by violence and almost daily protests by residents.
The migration crisis, described as unprecedented, has intensified clashes in Madrid between the left-wing government and right-wing and far-right opposition forces, also weakening Pedro Sánchez politically.
The issue of Ceuta, along with the housing crisis, is expected to be one of the central themes of the campaign for the November 29 parliamentary elections.
Opinion polls put Feijó’s People’s Party ahead of the Socialist Party led by Pedro Sánchez.
