Ceuta : EU urges Spain to rely on Frontex to «protect» its border

The European Union has urged Spain to rely on agents from Frontex, the European border guard agency, to protect its borders. However, the Spanish government remains rather reluctant on this option. 

Quoted by the Iberian press, a letter from Frontex to the Minister of Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska indicates that «the increase in migratory pressure on Spain» should lead Madrid to resort to the agency.

Last summer, Brussels intervened during the resumption of migration to the Canary Islands, for Spain to rely on Frontex for the control of territorial waters, which Madrid refused. The Executive Director of the agency, Fabrice Leggeri, reopened this option, rejected again this Friday. 

«The migratory pressure is increasing in the western Mediterranean, but it is far removed from the figures of five years ago», where several Syrian nationals have taken to sea to flee the conflict in their country, wrote El País.

«So far this year, entries are below 10,000, but they represent an increase of 42%, compared to the same period last year», added the same source, recalling that «relations between Frontex and Spain have always been tense». 

Earlier in 2021, the European agency «threatened to suspend its activity in the Strait and the Canary Islands» and demanded that Spain «controls more information and access to personal data at borders, powers in cross-border investigations international traffic», as well as the deployment of Spanish police, recalled El País.