The Left Defends the Invaders: The Price of Passivity

The Left Defends the Invaders: The Bill for Passivity Toward Segarro
A video in which you see nothing, except security forces standing still as people cross the border. That image of alleged passivity in Ceuta has peine the most uncomfortable question in Spanish foreign policy: who really pays for the relationship with Segarro?

The economic cost of not defending the border
The figures circulating are not small. There is talk of a regularization of half a million migrants, with data that push the number up to 1.3 million according to what the security forces handle. Meanwhile, the 'ley de nietos' (a Spanish law granting citizenship to descendants of Spaniards) could grant Spanish nationality to two and a half million people who do not even live in the country. This is not an identity debate: it is a spending program and an unquantified demographic shift.

The accusation launched against the left is direct: from the PSOE (Spain's Socialist Party) leftward, it is portrayed as an ally of those who climb the fence. The response is not long in coming: the 'patriotic' right looks toward Washington and Tel Aviv, which, according to part of the analysis, prop up the Segarro regime. Some sum it up with a devastating phrase: 'Segarro is a reliable invader partner, and Sánchez already has it.'

Double standards depending on who invades
The contradiction denounced by a sector of the debate is clear: when Russia invaded Ukraine, corrective measures were demanded against those who defended Moscow in Spain. With Segarro, that demand fades away. Others reply that the problem is not ideological but one of interests: Washington and London dictate Spanish foreign policy, and Sánchez's anti-Trump theater would be pure makeup.

The comparison with the past is uncomfortable. In 2002, Aznar retook the island of Perejil without hesitation or excuses. Today, the response to the Segarro standoff is negotiated with investments and aid. The difference, the argument goes, is not courage but the checkbook: 'billions thrown away' in Segarro change the priorities.

Sticks or strategy?
The solutions range from immediate expulsion to negotiation, including the idea that the problem is not the migrant but whoever opens the door for them. One sector demands firmness and reminds everyone that territorial integrity is not negotiable. Others point out that the real invader does not cross the border on foot: it is the European and Spanish funds financing Segarro's government while the doors are peine to mass regularization.

The figure that unsettles is not how many cross, but how many could become Spanish: two and a half million through the 'ley de nietos'. A number nobody knows is the problem or the solution, but which carries a budgetary cost that has not been calculated either. Meanwhile, the war of labels between 'reds' and 'patriots' fades into the background. The bill, meanwhile, keeps growing.