The Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces led demonstrations across Spain on Wednesday to support the autonomous city of Ceuta.
Speaking on the radio program La Linterna, federation president and Jerez mayor Maria Jose Garcia Pelayo demanded action from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and warned that local authorities will continue their campaign until normality is restored to the North African enclave.
Garcia Pelayo said the mission would not be complete until Ceuta reached stability, urging citizens to bring out Spanish flags again and maintain their protests.
The nationwide rallies coincided with Ceuta Day, an annual official holiday celebrating the city, with gatherings organized outside town halls across Spain, including major concentrations in Leon and Oviedo.
Impact across Spanish municipalities
Garcia Pelayo described the demonstration in Jerez de la Frontera as deeply moving, noting that many Ceuta natives living in the southern Spanish city attended the peaceful gathering.
She said attendees shared dramatic accounts of relatives trapped in the enclave and local businesses impacted by vehicle fires during the recent unrest.
The federation president expressed gratitude to citizens for showing affection to Ceuta residents during what she described as an ongoing tragedy for the city.
Journalist Perez Gimenez of El Confidencial noted growing public questioning regarding the national government's stance toward Morocco during the border crisis.
Political stance and local consensus
Addressing political opposition to the rallies, Garcia Pelayo criticized the ruling Socialist Party leadership for refusing to support the nationwide demonstrations, calling their stance regrettable.
She recounted a conversation with Ceuta President Juan Vivas, who emphasized that the crisis was not a matter of partisan politics but a question of common sense.
Garcia Pelayo added that her own visits to the El Principe neighborhood and surrounding camps in Ceuta confirmed the urgent human reality on the ground.
She noted that the Socialist Party itself was the only entity treating the rallies as an attack against the government, despite some socialist mayors attending in a personal capacity.
The federation president highlighted that local councils had previously called similar nationwide mobilizations during major emergencies, including the DANA floods in Valencia, the Adamuz railway accident in Andalusia, and the Venezuela earthquake.
She affirmed that Spanish local authorities remain committed to supporting the enclave following a direct plea from Ceuta residents not to be forgotten.
National debate and strategic concerns
The mobilization unfolded as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez faced intense parliamentary questioning over the government's response to events in Ceuta and its diplomacy with Morocco.
Former diplomat Inocencio Arias warned that the instability in Ceuta represented a strategic challenge by Morocco, while commentators highlighted contradictions in government security reports presented to Congress.
Despite political tensions in Madrid, local officials insisted that municipal solidarity across Spain would remain steadfast until conditions in Ceuta return to normal.
