Ceuta’s President, Juan Jesus Vivas, said, “That is almost the entire population of Ceuta, and what people want is a return to normalcy and absolute and permanent security, with the support of the central government.”

In an interview with TVE program “La Hora de la Uno,” Vivas, of the conservative People’s Party (PP), asked for “help,” for “assistance” from “the rest of Spain through those with executive power, which is the Government of the Nation.”

Although the central Executive expressed satisfaction with the return of most of the migrants who entered Ceuta irregularly on Thursday, the Ceuta president emphasized the structural problems facing the city.

He also avoided commenting on the refusal of PP-led Autonomous Communities to accept the child migrants that the city cannot care for due to a lack of capacity in its 1,100 facilities.

European Union (EU) interior ministers expressed cohesion in their support for Spain during a virtual meeting held on Tuesday, considering that Ceuta and Melilla, the other Spanish city in Morocco, are the only land borders from Africa to the countries of the community bloc.

jdt/iff/oda/ft