ZARZALEJOS CALLS FOR AN EFFECTIVE EUROPEAN RESPONSE TO THE CEUTA CRISIS

On Friday 18 September, Javier Zarzalejos was interviewed on RTVE’s Europa 2026 programme, where he warned of the extreme seriousness of the Ceuta crisis, not only for Spain but for the European Union as a whole.

Zarzalejos said that the European People’s Party is helping to raise awareness among the European institutions of the particular vulnerability of this external border. In his view, this recognition must now be translated into effective action. He explained that the European Union has a legal framework through which to respond, can mobilise funding for Spain and can provide significant human, technical and technological resources through Frontex. He also stressed that European solidarity had been demonstrated through concrete offers of support.

The Chair of the LIBE Committee also argued that the return of those who have entered illegally is fully compatible with European law, as ministers in the Spanish Government themselves have acknowledged. Zarzalejos stressed that the relevant procedures must be respected, but that anyone who has no right to remain must be repatriated. He also recalled that the Pact on Migration and Asylum required Spain to develop the necessary capacity and resources for its implementation. However, in light of what had happened, he considered that these capacities did not appear to have been adequately developed in Ceuta.

Zarzalejos also insisted that Morocco’s cooperation is essential, noting that it did not cooperate in preventing the entries and continues not to cooperate in facilitating returns. In this regard, he criticised the fact that, while 80,000 people were entering Ceuta, the Spanish Government was conveying messages to its European partners portraying Morocco as a loyal partner.

Finally, he argued that Morocco should be a strategic partner for Spain and the European Union, but warned that what had happened was intolerable and must not be repeated. “Morocco cannot aspire to be a strategic partner if it denies Spanish sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla and seeks to assume the role of administrator of the border,” he said. He therefore called for relations with the neighbouring country to be redefined on the basis of respect for Spanish sovereignty, fulfilment of its obligations and genuinely loyal cooperation.