Feijóo brings European ally to Ceuta to press for returns the Government has not triggered

The image carries institutional weight: the leader of Spain's main opposition party stood in Ceuta alongside the president of the European People's Party, demanding that the Spanish Government activate border-return mechanisms that European law already provides. Feijóo's warning was direct — if the Executive does not change course, the crisis will drag on. --- THE CONTEXT --- Feijóo grounded his demands in two concrete instruments: the EU Migration and Asylum Pact and the European Return Regulation, which he said permit the immediate return of people who crossed into Spanish territory at the end of July. Weber reinforced the case by noting that 22 EU member states signed a communiqué criticizing the Spanish Government's regularization approach. --- THE FACTS --- At his fourth visit to Ceuta, Feijóo accused the Sánchez Government of having «ignored» available European mechanisms and demanded two specific actions: a formal request to Brussels for an expedited return procedure, and a request for additional Frontex officials to accelerate individual case processing. Weber framed Sánchez as isolated in Europe — a charge he supported by invoking the 22-country communiqué, adding that the isolation extends even to Sánchez's fellow European Socialists. Feijóo also mounted a direct defense of Ceuta's president, Juan Jesús Vivas, describing Sánchez's attacks on Vivas as «miserable» and arguing that Vivas merited gratitude for remaining at his post while, in Feijóo's indirect framing, senior border officials were absent during the crisis. --- THE POSITIONS --- Feijóo and Weber presented a joint institutional case for immediate activation of European return law. The Sánchez Government did not respond publicly according to this source. President Vivas's own public position was not reported at the event. --- WHAT REMAINS UNKNOWN --- This source does not confirm whether Spain has formally invoked the Return Regulation, how many Frontex officials would be needed or available, what the European Commission's response to a potential request would be, or how many people currently remain in Ceuta awaiting decisions. --- UNANSWERED QUESTIONS --- • Has the Spanish Government formally engaged Frontex or invoked the European Return Regulation at any point since the mass crossing? • What is Madrid's official response to the 22-country communiqué, and does it dispute Weber's characterization of Sánchez's isolation? • What institutional consequences would Spain face within the EU if it continues to leave available return mechanisms dormant? • How does Ceuta's local administration assess its capacity to sustain the current situation while national and European processes remain unresolved? --- EPM ANALYSIS --- Weber's presence in Ceuta is not ceremonial. It signals that the PP is framing this as a European-order issue, not merely a Spanish domestic dispute. If the 22-country communiqué stands as described, Spain's negotiating leverage in future EU migration talks is already diminished. Order and institutional credibility require that governments — not opposition leaders — command the instruments their legal frameworks provide. The decisive variable is not Feijóo's rhetoric but whether Brussels receives a formal Spanish request. 📌 📌 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the strategic failure in Ceuta is not rhetorical — it is institutional. A government that allows the opposition to serve as its surrogate before Brussels on a question of border law has already ceded the commanding ground. EPM has previously noted Spain's economy minister linking Ceuta relief to Moroccan loyalty; the pattern of reactive, transactional management reinforces the view that Madrid lacks a coherent border doctrine. Europe's credibility as a rules-based order depends on member states actually using the rules. Spain's visible hesitation undermines both.

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