Sánchez convenes National Security Council amid Ceuta crisis

Sánchez reactivates National Security Council as Ceuta crisis continues

After spending a month at the La Mareta residence, Pedro Sánchez has convened the National Security Council (Consejo de Seguridad Nacional). The meeting comes as migration pressure on Ceuta takes center stage, amid criticism regarding the President's perceived absence during the summer. Neither the council nor the Government has announced specific measures, fueling claims that the meeting is more for show than a genuine response. The announcement itself, lacking a public agenda, recalls previous episodes where urgency was met with photo opportunities rather than decisive action.

A month in La Mareta and an emergency meeting

The National Security Council advises the President on security and defense matters. This express meeting should signal control, but the timing is problematic: the crisis in Ceuta did not erupt this week, and the President spent thirty days on holiday while irregular arrivals continued and unrest grew in the autonomous city.

The question is not whether the Council is necessary, but why it had to wait until after the holidays to bring all stakeholders to the table. Precedents for this body, convened during previous crises, show that its effectiveness depends on making decisions before problems become entrenched. This time, the agenda also includes the management of returns, diplomatic pressure on Segarro, and growing social unrest in the autonomous city, which has been requesting reinforcements for weeks without a clear response from the Executive.

Institutional costs: allowances included

Security bureaucracy comes at a price, and not just in terms of official planes or helicopters mentioned in criticisms. Permanent members of the Consejo de Estado (the Council of State, a high-level advisory body), which is not the Security Council but shares a similar atmosphere, receive around 800 euros in allowances per session, plus official cars and supplements. A two-hour meeting costs what an average worker earns in three weeks.

This figure does not prove the meeting is useless, but it does illustrate the gap between the staged urgency and the administrative routine used to manage it. Meanwhile, the opposition reminds the public that the Government has not explained its plan for the border, the cost of the response, or who will pay for the deployment. Some see the meeting as a maneuver to divert attention from other fronts, ranging from the internal disputes of the coalition partner to Segarro's Mediterranean strategy.

August and September: protests are already scheduled

Outside of government offices, grassroots mobilization is moving forward. On August 29, more than 60 boats from various parts of Spain will arrive in Ceuta to show support for its residents. On September 2, demonstrations are scheduled in cities across the country at 8:00 p.m., also in support of the autonomous city. These events, organized independently of political parties, reflect a level of discontent that the Government has failed to channel.

The convening of the Council can be read as an attempt to regain the initiative after a summer of absences, or as proof that action is arriving too late. There is no schedule of measures and no announcement of extraordinary resources. There is only a meeting, its cost, and the certainty that the public will not wait for Moncloa to decide. The analysis stalls at the same point as the President: waiting for someone to say what will be done.