On the afternoon of Wednesday 2nd, Mijas held as many as three official events in support of Ceuta, outside the Town Hall and the branch offices in Las Lagunas and La Cala, thereby joining the call issued by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP). The mayoress of Mijas, Ana Mata (PP), who was in Las Lagunas, called for the protection of Ceuta’s residents as an immediate priority, following the progressive deterioration of daily life in the autonomous city. “Today we are calling a spade a spade. Ceuta is not suffering from a migration problem. Ceuta’s integrity is under threat and its public services are under strain that is sustainable neither in space nor in time”, she said. 

 

Ceuta residents living in Mijas or with strong ties to the municipality were tasked with reading a manifesto entitled ‘We Are All Ceuta’, which called on the State to provide security, resources and effective border control, always with respect and rejecting any expression of hatred or confrontation. Among these residents was Rosa Moreno, who described what her family is going through in Ceuta, a situation “anything but normal, especially for the children, who can no longer go to the park or the beach, have missed out on their local fair and can no longer even go out for a walk in the street, as they used to. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. My family tells me things that break my heart”, said the resident.

 

Last event last Wednesday, which coincided with the celebration of Ceuta’s Autonomy Day, was a unanimous call for responsibility.  “It’s not about sending more doctors or more resources; we have to start at the root of the problem, which is to remove the invaders from our country and, after that, offer people everything they deserve. We must return to and restore normality and, above all, ensure that this never happens again”, said Eloy Belmonte (Vox), deputy mayor of Las Lagunas, to which the mayoress added that “we cannot have a president who has been on holiday for the whole month, while these people have been unable to leave their homes because their personal integrity has been violated”.

 

Authorities and local residents shared the same view: to continue to stand by Ceuta, defending the rule of law, security and peaceful coexistence. “What has taken place in the autonomous city is a full-blown invasion; the situation is becoming deadlocked and the Government needs to get its act together now and resolve this problem”, concluded the spokesperson for Ciudadanos at the Mijas Town Hall, José Carlos Martín.

Gathering in La Cala

Outside the La Cala branch office, the deputy mayor of Mijas, Juan Carlos Cuevas Dawson (Vox), and the deputy mayor of La Cala, Juan Carlos Maldonado (PMP), as well as other councillors from the government team, led this gathering, accompanied by local residents and citizens from Ceuta living in the municipality, in yet another show of solidarity and support for the autonomous city.

 

Cuevas Dawson took part in the event, where he emphasised that Ceuta’s integrity is under threat and warned that the strain on its public services is “unsustainable”. According to the councillor, “Ceuta is being invaded and there is appalling neglect on the part of this Government towards the people of Ceuta, who are really suffering. And we, the people of Mijas, are here supporting the people of Ceuta and will continue to do so until the Government takes action”.

 

For his part, Maldonado called on the Spanish Government to take urgent measures. “From here, from Mijas and from all over Spain, we call on our Government to strengthen our borders and, above all, to consolidate our unity so that we can defend ourselves against situations such as this”, he added.

In La Cala, it was a Ceuta native living in Mijas who was tasked with reading out the manifesto. On this occasion, Álvaro Cerezo emphasised that “when Ceuta suffers, Spain responds; when Ceuta needs help, Spain stands by its side; and when anyone questions who we are, our response is one and the same. Ceuta is not for sale, Ceuta must be defended”.

 

There were more Ceuta natives supporting their people from La Cala. Isabel María Fernández, another Ceuta native living in the municipality, said that this situation “is very hard to bear because you are seeing everything that is happening in Ceuta and you cannot do anything about it, and that creates a great sense of helplessness”.

Mijas Pueblo, standing with Ceuta

The defence of our borders, security and peaceful coexistence were also discussed in Mijas Pueblo. There, outside the Town Hall, hundreds more residents gathered, confirming that Spain stands with Ceuta. Mario Bravo (PP), a councillor on the government team, wished to “make Mijas’s position clear: we are against any invasion and we demand that the Government restore the original situation. As a country, we need a Government that ensures our borders are respected”, he emphasised.

 

In the case of Mijas Pueblo, Salvador Pérez, a Ceuta native who has lived in Mijas for over 40 years, was tasked with giving voice to the manifesto. A text which, as well as offering words of encouragement in support of the people of Ceuta, also demands a definitive solution to this crisis: “We ask the Government to take action once and for all and stop doing the foolish things it is doing out of fear of something it harbours. From here, we assert Ceuta’s Spanish identity. Ceuta is Spain and Spain is Ceuta”, Pérez emphasised.

Some of those present at the rally wanted to make their support for the people of Ceuta clear, such as Gara Pagés, a woman from Mijas who has lived in Ceuta since 2017 and said she felt “supported”. “The tears”, she continued, “can’t be held back any longer, because we’ve had a very tough few days behind us. I’m a nurse in Ceuta and the situation is dreadful”.

For her part, local resident Blanca Berral, said she felt “sadness; I feel despair for them; I’ve been speaking every day to people I know from there ever since this began. I also feel frustration, because at the end of the day we see that politicians aren’t uniting either, as there’s no representation from a certain political side; we should all be as one”.

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