Ceuta sparks rebellion in PSOE as territorial leaders openly challenge Sánchez (Luis Casal on Vozpópuli)

PSOE territorial leaders, especially mayors, are beginning to show their disagreement with the official line of the party's central command regarding the Ceuta crisis, culminating in a key vote at the Seville Town Council.

The Ceuta crisis has caused an internal earthquake within the PSOE. What started as murmurs of discontent among mayors and councilors has escalated into an open challenge to the federal leadership, led by **Pedro Sánchez**. The management of the migration crisis and its consequences in the autonomous city has created a rift between the party's high command and its cadres on the ground, especially those facing upcoming municipal elections.

## The vote in Seville, a turning point

The latest episode of this rebellion took place in the **Seville** Town Council. There, the Socialist group voted alongside **PP** and **Vox** in favor of a motion questioning the central Government's performance during the recent crisis. The proposal demanded firmer defense of Spanish sovereignty over **Ceuta** and **Melilla**, as well as more resources to protect the borders and guarantees for the rights of its inhabitants. The Socialist spokesman, **Antonio Muñoz**, attempted to mitigate the decision's impact, arguing it was necessary to avoid a provocation by the PP. However, the outcome is difficult to ignore: the main opposition group in one of Spain's largest cities supported an initiative critical of its own party’s executive branch. This fact marks another step beyond previous protests, where Socialist mayors had limited themselves to attending demonstrations or adjusting schedules to distance themselves from PP convocations.

## Mayors disobey orders from Ferraz

The tension is not new. Since late August, the PSOE's federal leadership, known as **Ferraz** (the party’s central command), has attempted to curb protests and demonstrations in support of Ceuta, called or supported by Socialist mayors. On **September 2**, **Ferraz** sent a circular to territorial organizations, signed by figures like **María Jesús Montero** and **Rebeca Torró**, asking their officials not to participate in rallies organized by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), as they believed the PP was trying to instrumentalize the crisis against **Sánchez**. However, this order was not obeyed by numerous mayors. In municipalities such as **León**, **Mérida**, **Chiclana de la Frontera**, **Moguer**, and **Espartinas**, among **72 municipalities**, Socialist mayors participated in solidarity events or promoted their own rallies. In **Andalucía**, several town halls governed by the PSOE organized alternative demonstrations to distance themselves from the PP's initiative without abandoning the streets.

## Autonomy versus party dictates

Some of these leaders have gone beyond simple disobedience. The mayor of **León**, **José Antonio Díez**, publicly defended that the response to the crisis should transcend partisan politics. In **Moguer**, **Gustavo Cuéllar** advocated for the autonomy of mayors against party directives. And in **Chiclana**, **José María Román** participated in the mobilization despite the rejection of **Ferraz**. The initial response from the leadership was to minimize the importance of these decisions, referring to the existence of "free verses" within the organization. However, the succession of episodes, and especially the vote in Seville, increasingly complicates that explanation. The Ceuta crisis remains active, with Congress approving **309 million euros** in aid for the autonomous city on **September 18, 2026**, while the debate over the fate of migrant minors persists.

The difficulty for **Ferraz** lies in the fact that while it can maintain a national strategy against the PP, it finds it increasingly difficult to impose this strategy on territorial leaders who have their own electorates, their own elections ahead, and, now, less hesitation in making public their disagreement with the official line. The Ceuta crisis has therefore become a symptom of a deeper malaise testing the cohesion of the PSOE.