The chopped pork sandwich that has Ceuta's officers up in arms

A chopped pork sandwich and a branded yogurt: the menu that sums up the Ceuta operation

The story reported by El Faro de Ceuta about the meals given to police and military personnel deployed in the Spanish city has sparked an uncomfortable debate. On paper, a ration consisting of a chopped pork sandwich, a branded yogurt and little else does not seem fitting for a force enduring constant migration pressure. The detail has turned the food served to the security forces into a matter of dignity and image, beyond mere nutritional value.

An analysis of the reactions shows two camps. One argues the menu is a sign of contempt for those carrying out on the ground policies decided from afar by the political class. The other, more pragmatic view holds that airing these complaints in public damages the force's image and that criticism should be handled internally. In between, some observers point out that the yogurt is a branded one, as if that disproved the accusation of penny-pinching: perhaps not all the supplies are of terrible quality, only the main part.

The episode leaves an open question that is not a minor one: if this is the treatment given to those on the front line, what can the rest of the public services expect? For now, the discussion remains in the realm of sarcasm and irony, but the image of a police officer eating chopped pork sandwich while being asked to hold a border should not feel normal.