Pedro Sánchez faces an increasingly lonely defense of his government over Ceuta

Pedro Sánchez appeared increasingly isolated in Congress as he defended his government’s handling of the crisis in Ceuta. The lack of support reflected two problems, according to the article: the difficulty of backing the government’s position and the growing distance between Sánchez and the parties that supported his investiture.

Those groups, it argues, no longer want to be pulled down with the prime minister. Had the debate taken place at the start of the legislature, the government’s weakness might have been less visible. Instead, many lawmakers appeared to have run out of patience and began accepting the prospect of a right-wing victory.

A symbolic moment came when Defense Minister Margarita Robles declined to applaud Sánchez’s announcement that the government would publish all intelligence reports on the crisis. The article presents her gesture as another sign of political disengagement.

Sánchez tried to show more empathy toward Ceuta’s residents than he had in his only interview during the crisis, and he sought to distance himself from Morocco’s authorities. He also argued for a cautious foreign policy in a difficult setting. But public anger had already hardened. Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo directly accused Sánchez of being the victim of Moroccan blackmail.

The article says Morocco has the stronger position and that Sánchez cannot afford the kind of aggressive rhetoric toward Rabat now used by the opposition. It also argues that his decision to disappear from the media spotlight during August, while Ceuta faced chaos and insecurity, will follow him politically, even if the criticism is unfair to a prime minister known for his hard work and dedication.