State's Double Standard: Lockdown at Home, Inaction in Ceuta

Spain's Double Standard: Lockdown at Home, Inaction in Ceuta

In March 2020, the Spanish State decreed an absolute lockdown. Citizens were obliged to remain indoors, with minimal exceptions, under fines and controls. That measure lasted months and left images of empty streets across the country. The most intense phase lasted forty days. Today, the same state structure faces a crisis in Ceuta: a group of migrants has been present in the autonomous city for forty days, according to reports circulating in economic media, without any forceful measures having been applied to manage the situation.

The Pattern of Outrage

Those who analyze the contrast speak of a double standard. During the pandemic, exercising basic rights was incivil, and a repressive force was deployed against the population. In contrast, in Ceuta, according to popular sentiment, a presence has been allowed that has become a challenge to authority. "It's like a fair," some complain, while the Government shrugs its shoulders.

The Search for Accountability

The criticism does not stop at the comparison. It touches upon corruption, betrayal, and the need for residency trials to establish responsibility. The influence of external actors also appears: from the European Union to financier George Soros, who is accused of setting the executive agenda. These are speculative arguments, but they reflect a deep discontent with the management. The irony that "the bicho is now real" summarizes the state of mind.

The fact that throws into sharp relief: while the Spanish State locked up its population to curb a pandemic, it now maintains a migration crisis of forty days in which the only firm presence seems to be that of the migrants themselves on the streets of Ceuta. The yardstick, obviously, is not applied equally.