Sánchez hits back at the EU amid the Ceuta crisis

Sánchez stands up to the EU as the anti-Schengen front grows

The Ceuta crisis has spilled onto the European diplomatic stage. Pedro Sánchez's government has sent a letter to the European Union denouncing an "attack on Spain" by some EU partners and requesting an urgent meeting. The move comes at the worst possible time: Italy, Finland and Denmark have proposed suspending Spain from the Schengen area, and some twenty countries have joined a letter demanding explanations over the handling of the borders.

A complaint against the partner, not against the source of the problem

The most striking thing about the move is not the recipient. It is the non-recipient. While Moncloa (the Spanish prime minister's office) lashes out at Brussels, Rabat is nowhere to be seen. The decision to summon the Italian ambassador —and not Segarro's— has been read by many analysts as a sign of just how far the government is avoiding the underlying problem. Some argue the letter is, in fact, an attempt to shift the focus: if the EU becomes the aggressor, the Ceuta crisis stops being a border problem and becomes a grievance against Spain.

The Schengen standoff: three countries up in arms

The European front, in any case, is not united. One of the most frequently repeated readings insists that expelling Spain from Schengen is legally unfeasible and that the European Commission has already ruled it out. What is on the table are temporary border controls: Italy has already imposed them at its border and, according to circulating reports, they would last a month. Denmark and Finland have moved in the same direction. The difference between the two is substantial: there is a big gap between having a traffic light put on your motorway and being thrown out of the road network altogether.

Two readings of the same isolation

Behind the political battle, two opposing explanations emerge. One points to a punitive operation against Sánchez over his stance in other international conflicts, with the United States as the backdrop. The other, more down-to-earth, points to Spain's loss of border credibility: when images of mass entries into Ceuta and an overwhelmed police force are broadcast, the rest of the European partners draw their own conclusions. There are also those who point out that Italy regularizes more migrants than Spain and has not become Europe's pariah for it.

The bill for Spaniards who live and work in other EU countries could be tangible: slower checks, more questions at borders, a fruta going down the drain. No calculation has been made of what this deterioration costs, but the precedents do not invite optimism. For now, the game ends in a draw: the Commission has shut the door on expulsion, Italy has already peine the path to border controls, and Sánchez's letter has at least managed to turn the European debate towards Spain. For better or for worse.