“Loyalty from Ceuta’s government? When this is over, there are questions we will answer”

Ángel Víctor Torres does not promise that Ceuta will return to normal tomorrow. “I wish I could say tomorrow, but I would be lying,” he says, arguing that the crisis must be resolved as quickly as possible without abandoning legal procedures.

Torres, who took over as the single authority managing the crisis on Aug. 25, rejects demands for the immediate return of everyone still in Ceuta. Migrants must first be identified, and temporary locations are needed to process their cases. He criticizes Alberto Núñez Feijóo for repeating that all migrants could already be returned, saying that position contradicted Ceuta’s president, Juan Jesús Vivas, who had said returns must comply with the law.

The minister says the government has announced spaces with more than 3,500 places, reinforced teams handling case files and prepared a 308 million euro economic plan. From Aug. 10 through the Thursday before the interview, about 3,800 people had returned voluntarily, while 3,500 were staying in government facilities. Of those, 1,000 were minors. More than 200 expulsions had been carried out, and additional procedures were being completed.

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I wish I could say tomorrow, but I would be lying.

Torres says pressure will ease faster once authorities have places to identify people and accelerate returns. Ceuta is expected to reach 6,000 reception places in the following days. These facilities are intended to be temporary: land at La Reina will return to housing use, while the port area will return to its previous purpose. The government does want a minimum number of permanent places in specific facilities for future humanitarian emergencies.

The minister also defends cooperation with Morocco and says Ceuta needs dedicated infrastructure. A Temporary Foreigners’ Care Center was due to open the following week, while capacity at the Temporary Stay Center for Immigrants had been expanded. He says the government’s aim is to restore normality in the shortest possible time, but gives no immediate date.

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We need spaces to identify people and speed up returns.