The Ministry of Migration has given up its idea of building a macro reception camp for thousands of migrants in the facilities of the Ciudad Real airport. “Despite the increase in arrivals compared to last year, the current situation and the projection for the last quarter make us work directing resources towards other alternatives,” they report in a statement. The idea of building a center for migrants and refugees arriving irregularly on the Spanish coast arose in a meeting on October 1 in which the ministry asked government delegates to propose spaces in which to house large groups of migrant people. . Upon finding out, two weeks later, through rumors and the press, the Government of Castilla-La Mancha He charged against Elma Saiz’s apartment and accused him of “obscurantism” and to negotiate behind their backs. The Minister of Social Welfare, Bárbara García Torijano, justified to EL PAÍS her rejection of the proposal on the grounds that “the nearest town and, therefore, the services, are 12 kilometers away.” The president of the community, Emiliano García-Page, and the mayor of Ciudad Real, Francisco Cañizares, have celebrated that the project has been cancelled.
The controversy continued for days. The ministry clarified that it was not a closed plan, but that it was indeed studying it. The president of the community, Emiliano García-Page He even described the project as “clearly illegal,” in addition to highlighting the “bad manners” with which, according to Page, the plan was evaluated. “They wanted to do it in the worst possible way, which is without talking to anyone, overnight, here I catch you, here I kill you.” The socialist also criticized that “the only thing that is proposed” is to carry out “a business exploitation of human beings.”
The ministry has finally abandoned its plan that, at the time, it claimed was being studied. “The Ministry carries out constant surveys throughout the territory in order to find facilities that are part of the Humanitarian Care and International Protection System, a flexible system, according to needs, that offers resources to alleviate the points of first arrivals, such as the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands or the south of the Peninsula,” he justifies in the note. In a context of an increase in arrivals, especially to the Canary Islands, and a lack of reception places, the ministry maintains that it will continue with these prospecting tasks “for which interterritorial solidarity and the support of the various administrations are invaluable.” .
“We have to address the problem together and by sharing a model (…) What was proposed alone did not solve the problem, but rather created many others,” said President García-Page, during the Medal presentation to the Cultural Merit, this Thursday in Campo de Criptana (13,597 inhabitants, Ciudad Real).
I am glad that the central government has canceled the project and the intention to welcome immigrants at the Ciudad Real Airport.
Not only did it not solve the problem, but it created many others. We have to address the problem together and by sharing a model. pic.twitter.com/HVLFlCPShF
— Emiliano García-Page (@garciapage) October 24, 2024
The mayor of Ciudad Real, Francisco Cañizares (PP), has also celebrated the Government’s retreat from what he considers “an impossible project.” “It has had the unanimous rejection of the society of Ciudad Real, and it has been the PP that has led this consensus regarding this terrible initiative,” said Cañizares, who has participated in the Regional Executive Committee of the PP of Castilla-La Mancha, reports Efe. “We have managed to get professional associations, Chambers of Commerce, businessmen, unions and immigration networks to oppose the use of this project,” he added.
