Alberto Núñez Feijóo, president of the opposition Popular Party, demanded that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez appear urgently before Congress to explain the presence of Moroccan warships in Spanish territorial waters during the July border crisis near Ceuta.
The incident occurred as more than 80,000 people crossed into Spanish territory through the Tarajal border crossing in late July. Moroccan naval vessels navigated Spanish waters during the same period, according to sources.
Feijóo characterized the situation as a matter of "extreme gravity" and accused Sánchez of "negligent and unforgivable abandonment" of the 80,000 Spanish citizens who should have been protected. He stressed that the incident was not merely another scandal.
More than a month after the mass crossing, Sánchez appeared before the lower chamber to account for the government's handling of events in Ceuta on July 30. However, during his two-and-a-half-hour intervention, the prime minister made no mention of the incursion by neighboring Morocco's warships into Spanish jurisdictional waters.
Feijóo alleged that Sánchez was aware of the Moroccan warships' presence in Ceuta but proceeded to take vacation. The Popular Party leader reiterated that territorial integrity and borders are non-negotiable.
The PP has referred the matter to the National Court and plans to raise the case with its allies in the European People's Party in Brussels.
The government has justified its failure to inform the public about the naval incursion by characterizing it as an isolated incident. Officials said the crisis was resolved with normalcy.