Spain to set up integrated response centre to handle migration crisis in Ceuta

Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo has said his government will establish an integrated response centre to coordinate the efforts of the authorities in resolving the migration crisis in Ceuta.

“Tomorrow, Tuesday, the government will declare the situation in Ceuta as a matter of national security interest and will establish an integrated body through a royal decree to be adopted by the Council of Ministers,” Cuerpo told a press conference on Monday.

The measure is necessary to improve coordination between the government bodies involved, he said. The Ceuta authorities had previously requested that these steps be taken.

The integrated body will be led by Spain’s Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory Angel Victor Torres, Ceuta Mayor Juan Jesus Vivas, the central government’s representative in Ceuta and the National Intelligence Centre (CNI), with several ministers serving as members of a special committee.

Meanwhile, the Department of National Security has been appointed as an adviser to the new structure.

In late July, Ceuta, which is located in North Africa and borders Morocco, experienced a large wave of migrants. The country’s Interior Ministry said that around 72,000 migrants had entered the country from Morocco.

On 11 August, the Ceuta authorities said that around 10,000 migrants were still in the city.