On Spain's Biggest Podcast, Sánchez Says There Is No Proof Morocco Orchestrated the Ceuta Influx
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez sat for an interview with Jordi Wild, host of The Wild Project, Spain's most-listened-to podcast, released on November 13 with more than 135,000 people watching the premiere live. In the nearly two-hour conversation, Sánchez focused on the Ceuta migration crisis of late July, two high-speed rail accidents and corruption cases touching figures in his party — an appearance, on the first day of the general election campaign, widely read as a bid for young voters.
Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city on the North African coast, bordering Morocco. On July 30–31, more than 80,000 people crossed into Ceuta. Sánchez said the National Intelligence Centre had flagged changes in migration flows and online rumours, but no intelligence warned of an influx of that scale; he said he still has no information allowing him to accuse the Moroccan government of orchestrating the episode, adding that Morocco was itself overwhelmed and helped manage the border. The government, he said, faced a dilemma between using force against unarmed young people — many of them minors — or taking them in and letting them leave afterwards; nine in ten of those who entered have since left Ceuta. He acknowledged the initial response was not good enough and said Ceuta residents deserve the same protection as people in Madrid.
On rail safety, Sánchez said it was "not acceptable" for Spain to suffer two such serious high-speed accidents in nine months, which killed 115 people in total, including 69 in the October 28 crash at Urda, in Toledo province. He defended the overall safety of Spain's rail system and called Transport Minister Óscar Puente's resignation, after appearing before Congress, the right decision.
Sánchez also said immigration accounts for 25% of Spain's economic growth and that integration is the central migration challenge, and he said he fully believes in the innocence of former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in the case touching him. People's Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo also recorded an interview with the same programme, while Vox leader Santiago Abascal cancelled his appearance.
(Source: The Wild Project podcast)
Source: The Wild Project podcast
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：桑切斯在休达塔拉哈尔边境的监控中心，与国民警卫队和国家警察负责人查看边境画面。Pool Moncloa／Borja Puig de la Bellacasa 摄，署名授权，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Sánchez at the surveillance centre on Ceuta's Tarajal border with Guardia Civil and National Police commanders. By Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons.
