No National Interest

The column presents the Ceuta crisis as a failure of national security and political leadership. It points to Spain’s 21-kilometer land border with Morocco, its small offshore territories and annual spending of more than 33 billion euros on security and defense, then asks why the country could not protect Ceuta during a mass migrant arrival.

The criticism extends to intelligence and cybersecurity spending, which the writer says exceeds 1 billion euros annually. Those resources, the column argues, did not detect the movement toward the border or communicate its scale with enough urgency. It also faults Ceuta’s government delegate for failing to coordinate state forces, describing him as a former political adviser and teacher with political experience in immigration but no background in security or defense.

The article says nearly 100 people died, then attacks the government’s response after the situation had already spiraled. The prime minister is accused of failing to provide competence, credibility and transparency. His description of the mass arrival as a “violation of Spain’s territorial integrity” is portrayed as reckless because it helped unleash patriotic anger. The writer also criticizes his decision to go on vacation and says he had not regained control a month later.

Eight ministers and 11 ministries became involved in different parts of the response, but the column says they failed collectively and individually to restore normality or provide clear, truthful explanations. That lack of clarity, it argues, worsened widespread disinformation.

Ceuta remains tense, according to the column. Some residents broke police cordons, blocked humanitarian groups and burned migrants’ shops and belongings, although most residents did not join those actions. The writer ends by blaming PSOE ineptitude and PP irresponsibility, while calling for competent management and restraint.

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violation of Spain’s territorial integrity