Ceuta crisis: Torres takes sole command over eleven ministries
Torres assumes sole command in Spain's Ceuta crisis, coordinating eleven ministries. Critics question whether the arrangement will actually work.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Sole command in Ceuta: Torres to coordinate eleven ministries
The Spanish Government has decided to centralise the handling of the Ceuta crisis through a single command resting with Torres. The announcement means eleven portfolios are subordinated to one coordinator, an interministerial coordination role that had not been used with such breadth in recent crises.
The measure is presented as the way to cut through the administrative disorder that has marked the emergency response. But it has not dispelled the doubts. Interministerial coordination is one of those arrangements that sound good on paper and get stuck in practice. Who answers to whom? Which ministry gives up powers? The answer is nowhere in the statement.
There is also a background noise that unsettles: the so-called Canary connection. The new coordinator is from the islands, and that is no minor detail for a crisis with strong border tension. Some see in it experience in managing migration flows; others, a concession to the territorial interests of a coalition partner.
In this context, scepticism is growing. The phrase attributed to MacArthur, that anything is worth trying as long as it does not solve the problem, has been quoted ad nauseam. And the truth is that sole command, on its own, does not address any of the variables on the table.
With eleven ministries in tow, the first real test will be budgetary coordination. The analysis gets stuck there, in the fine print. Because the Ceuta crisis will not be solved with organisational charts, but with facts on the ground. And the facts, for now, are still waiting.
The Spanish Government has decided to centralise the handling of the Ceuta crisis through a single command resting with Torres. The announcement means eleven portfolios are subordinated to one coordinator, an interministerial coordination role that had not been used with such breadth in recent crises.
The measure is presented as the way to cut through the administrative disorder that has marked the emergency response. But it has not dispelled the doubts. Interministerial coordination is one of those arrangements that sound good on paper and get stuck in practice. Who answers to whom? Which ministry gives up powers? The answer is nowhere in the statement.
There is also a background noise that unsettles: the so-called Canary connection. The new coordinator is from the islands, and that is no minor detail for a crisis with strong border tension. Some see in it experience in managing migration flows; others, a concession to the territorial interests of a coalition partner.
In this context, scepticism is growing. The phrase attributed to MacArthur, that anything is worth trying as long as it does not solve the problem, has been quoted ad nauseam. And the truth is that sole command, on its own, does not address any of the variables on the table.
With eleven ministries in tow, the first real test will be budgetary coordination. The analysis gets stuck there, in the fine print. Because the Ceuta crisis will not be solved with organisational charts, but with facts on the ground. And the facts, for now, are still waiting.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (35 replies).
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