Spanish mayor protests to PM as migrant ship docks in crisis city

AN NGO rescue ship carrying 87 migrants docked in the Spanish port of Algeciras yesterday amid a protest from the city’s mayor that it did not have the resources to cope with the new arrivals.

José Ignacio Landaluce, the conserv- ative mayor of the Andalusian city, said Madrid had neither consulted nor even informed him of the arrival of the Open Arms, which had been turned away by Italy after rescue operations in the central Mediterranean.

Demanding that Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister, visit Algeciras to “see the reality” of the migration crisis, Mr Landaluce, of the opposition Popular Party, told Onda Cero, a radio station, that local authorities had not received “even a dime” from central government.

“The Spanish have big hearts, yes, but on this issue we have to use our heads because there is not enough money,” said the mayor, who last month warned Algeciras could become “a new Lampedusa”.

In July, Spain overtook Italy to become the largest European gateway for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, with 23,741 arriving on its shores so far this year – almost triple the same period in 2017 – according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Officials and analysts attribute the surge primarily to the crackdown on the central Mediterranean crossing from Libya to Italy, which has pushed migrants towards the alternative western route from Morocco to Spain. In the face of a ban on rescue ships by Matteo Salvini, Italy’s anti-immigration interior minister, Spain has now also repeatedly stepped into the breach since it first offered safe harbour to the Aquarius and its 630 migrants in June.

Previous offers were made in agreement with city governments in Valencia and Barcelona, where the Open Arms is based.

Authorities in Andalusia, meanwhile, are already struggling to cope with a dramatic uptick in migrant rafts crossing from Morocco. Mr Landaluce said Algeciras did not have the money to cope with “an Aquarius every day”, noting the area’s high levels of unemployment and the needs of those arriving.

“I don’t want a social imbalance to be created. Here we live in peace and harmony and there are no tensions,” he said.

The mayor demanded to know Madrid’s plans for dealing with the crisis, and that the government presses harder in Europe for a common migration policy.