The socialist government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has so far failed to adequately address the continuing migrant crisis in Ceuta, according to over eight in ten voters.
A Sigma Dos survey of over 2,100 voters for Madrid’s El Mundo newspaper has found that 82.2 per cent believe the Sánchez government “has not done enough” following the mass invasion of over 70,000 illegals into the small Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa last month.
Perhaps most concerningly for the leftist Prime Minister, who faces a looming re-election campaign, even 56.9 per cent of his own Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) voters and 52.7 per cent of his coalition partner, Sumar, also expressed frustration over inaction from the Moncloa Palace.
Despite the government’s attempts to blame the crisis on supposed “fake news” on social media, the overwhelming majority of voters also believe that the Islamist Moroccan state played a role in facilitating the storming of Ceuta’s borders. According to the survey, 90.4 per cent said that the Rabat regime was behind the migrant surge, while 59.7 per cent said they believe it is a means for Morocco to “pressure and blackmail” Spain.
The Sánchez government appears to be out of step with voters on how to respond to Morocco as well. In contrast to the stance of providing more foreign aid and stepping up cooperation, as has been mooted by Madrid, the majority of respondents called for militarising the border (55 per cent) and sanctioning the Moroccan government (52.8 per cent).
Nearly eight in ten (77.2 per cent) are also in favour of the deportation of all illegals who remain in the territory, including the unaccompanied minors, many of whom were left behind given their increased chances of receiving asylum and the potential to bring the rest of the family into Spain via chain migration.
The polling comes amid heightened tensions in the Spanish exclave, with some residents of the city launching vigilante-style efforts on Thursday to break up the migrant camps on the Trampolín beach, where thousands of illegals have created ramshackle tent shelters out of reeds and garbage.
Rather than promptly removing the remaining illegals, the Sánchez government has suggested that Ceuta dedicate its limited supply of sports centres and other similar facilities to house the supposed asylum seekers. The local government has argued that the migrants should at least be put in areas away from large population centres, amid multiple reports of sexual assaults and growing concerns over the spread of diseases.
With less than a year left before the next scheduled election in Spain, the handling of the Ceuta crisis may prove critical to the leftist government’s chances of clinging to power. Even prior to the crisis, Sánchez has faced steep opposition to his open borders agenda, which has included the mass amnesty of upwards of a million illegals earlier this year.
The socialist prime minister has also faced numerous scandals involving alleged corruption among his top political allies, including former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and even his wife, First Lady Begoña Gómez.
According to a poll earlier this month by NC Report for La Razón, the Sánchez party would lose around two million votes compared with the previous election, falling to just over 25 per cent. Meanwhile, fellow leftist party Sumar would collapse to just 5.9 per cent, down 6.4 percentage points, and the far-left Podemos party would garner only 3.5 per cent of the vote.
Conversely, the centre-right People’s Party is on course for 34.2 per cent, and the anti-mass migration VOX party would win 18 per cent, potentially setting up a PP government beholden to Santiago Abascal and his immigration hardliners after the next election.