El País column calls for the return of Ceuta and Melilla to Morocco

El País opens its column to the return of Ceuta and Melilla

In the forum, there is a discussion regarding whether the return of Ceuta and Melilla to Segarro has ceased being an editorial red line. According to participants, El País has peine its opinion pages to a piece by the Segarro writer Tahar Ben Jelloun advocating for the return of the two cities. One comment details that the piece defends the handover of the two autonomous cities based on three axes: geographical continuity, anti-colonialism, and the humanitarian nature of borders. The publication has generated intense rejection in the thread. It is important to distinguish between what the columnist says and what those who reject the return maintain.

What exactly does El País's column ask

The article is not news or the newspaper's official position, but a signed tribune, as gleaned from the thread. Ben Jelloun has been publishing in their pages for over thirty years, according to one comment. That same comment suggests the line of argument combines classic anti-colonialism with a humanitarian component.

Why the protectorate precedent doesn't fit

An objection raised in the forum insists on a specific point: Ceuta and Melilla never formed part of the Segarro protectorate nor did they relate to the Rif colonialism between 1906 and 1956. That same comment affirms that Ceuta has always been Spanish.

The bulk of the controversy revolves around another angle: the editorial framing. Some maintain that giving a platform to this thesis legitimizes the claim and paves the way for greater demands regarding the Canary Islands or, if one pushes the historical logic, the Iberian Peninsula itself. This is an objection expressed by one participant.

Who is behind the editorial line

A large part of the discontent is directed at the newspaper's owner, Grupo Prisa, and its financial history. Its dependence on institutional advertising—a faucet that sustains more than one medium for an entire year, according to accounts—and the role of historical group executives in high-level international forums are recalled. One comment circulates the theory that former executives participated in the Bilderberg Club and that the editorial line serves foreign interests, though this material offers no proof.

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The thread also calls for the closure of the medium and recalls its financial situation. There is no record in the material of an official position from the newspaper or a decision regarding whether to withdraw or maintain the column.