Spain should move at the same pace as the EU and not remain on the periphery of what the bloc and the European Commission consider the best way to tackle irregular migration, Partido Popular Secretary General Cuca Gamarra (EPP) said on Wednesday.
The leader of the main centre-right opposition force in parliament was referring in particular to the so-called ‘Italian model’ of outsourcing the management of migration flows to Albania.
“Evidently, Europe is moving, and Spain should move at the same pace as Europe is moving and not stand on the sidelines and not want to fight against the mafias that are not only trafficking people but are causing many people to die trying to reach, in this case, the coasts of Europe, which are also the coasts of our country,” saidGamarra, EFE reported.
Gamarra referred to a proposal put forward on Tuesday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about setting up accommodation centres outside EU territory.
The right-wing party’s initially positive reaction to the proposal was shared by the far-right Vox party, the third-largest force in parliament, which has repeatedly attacked the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) for being too soft on migration.
However, the government views outsourcing migration management in centres for irregular migrants as a red line it will not cross, as was made clear by government spokeswomanPilar Alegría on Tuesday.
Spain will continue to defend the “humanitarian and supportive” implementation of the EU pact – whose entry into force Madrid wants to bring forward from 2026 to 2025 – the spokesperson added.
On Tuesday, von der Leyen (CDU/EPP) suggested exploring the idea of developing ‘return centres’ for irregular migrants outside the EU, adding that “lessons could be learned” from the recently agreed-to migration deal between Rome and Tirana.
The Italo-Albanian ‘experiment’ has sparked a heated parliamentary debate this week in Spain, which has been suffering since last summer from a serious migration crisis affecting mainly the Canary Islands and the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa.
One of the strongest reactions to von der Leyen’s proposal came in parliament on Tuesday from the spokesman for the Catalan separatist left-wing ERC party, which, together with its right-wing pro-independence rival JxCat, guarantees the fragile stability of Sánchez’s executive.
Controversy over new migrant reception centre in central Spain
“There are millions of people emigrating all over the world, and the solution is not to lock them up, much less to pretend that they do not exist, and even less so in detention centres further and further away (from the EU),” ERC spokesperson Gabriel Rufián said on Tuesday.
Implementing the controversial ‘Italian model’ would be equivalent to provoking wars, droughts and human exploitation in Africa, he said, adding that borders in Europe “does not work”.
While the reception centres for unaccompanied migrant minors in the Canary Islands are currently overflowing, von der Leyen’s proposal has reignited the controversy over the possibility of the Spanish government using the airport of Ciudad Real (Centre-South) as a temporary reception centre for irregular migrants arriving in highly vulnerable conditions.
The government’s proposal was categorically rejected this week by the mayor of the city, Francisco Cañizares (PP), who said it would be “a real concentration camp for migrants”.
The migration crisis in the Canary Islands has become a new battleground between Sánchez’s government and the right-wing and far-right camps, particularly over the reception of unaccompanied migrant minors making the perilous journey from West African countries.
The government wants to amend the current law on foreigners to make the reception of minors compulsory in all of the 17 autonomous communities, a move opposed by the PP and Vox, which govern together in several municipalities.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)
Source: euractiv.com
